Car Catches Fire in New Belgrade, Gurovic Saves Driver
An Audi caught fire while driving in New Belgrade, at Dusana Vukasovica and Vojvodjanska. Driver Milan J., 48, couldn't unbuckle his seatbelt; ex basketball player Milan Gurovic pulled him free.
A car, an Audi, caught fire on Sunday around 3 p.m. while being driven through the intersection of Dusana Vukasovica and Vojvodjanska streets in New Belgrade. Behind the wheel was Milan J., 48. The car swerved and stopped abruptly, but the driver didn’t get out.
The reason was his seatbelt. According to unofficial information, Milan J. could not unbuckle it as the fire spread through the car. Former basketball player Milan Gurovic happened to be walking past at that moment, on his way home. He went up to the car and pulled the driver out before the flames reached the cabin.
Driver Escaped Without Burns
Milan J. was taken to the Emergency Center by private car. Doctors found no injuries and no burns. The only consequence was inhaled smoke.
That outcome is not a given in cases like this. The car burned out completely, meaning the fire reached the passenger compartment as well. The driver was pulled out while that was still possible, and that is where this story parts ways with the kind normally written after a car fire breaks out while a vehicle is moving.
Two Vehicles, Seven Firefighters
The Fire and Rescue Brigade responded to the scene with two vehicles and seven firefighters. The fire was put out; the car was destroyed.
The cause is still being determined. There was no collision, so this is not a traffic accident but a vehicle fire, an important distinction for what comes next. When a car burns down completely, the traces that would show where the fire started disappear along with it, so the answer has to come from whatever is left of the wiring and the engine compartment.
There has been no report of any other vehicle being damaged, or of anyone besides the driver being hurt. The intersection of Dusana Vukasovica and Vojvodjanska sits in western New Belgrade, and the fire broke out in a car that was moving, in the middle of traffic rather than in a parking lot or a garage.
Still unknown at this point:
- how the fire started and where it spread from
- whether the car had a prior electrical fault
- why the seatbelt buckle wouldn’t release
Why Doesn’t a Seatbelt Buckle Always Release?
A seatbelt buckle opens with a press of the button and, under normal conditions, releases on the first try. It can jam when the webbing is under load or when the mechanism itself fails. In this case, it hasn’t been established which of those was the cause, and that detail isn’t part of what has been reported.
What is known is the consequence. The driver was strapped into a car that was on fire, could not free himself, and there was no time to wait for firefighters to arrive. The brigade’s intervention began only after that.
Who Approached the Burning Car
Milan Gurovic is a former basketball player who represented Yugoslavia and Serbia on the national team. He played for Partizan and Red Star, and his name is better known to the wider public than most of the people who happened to be at that intersection on a Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday he was neither a national team player nor a club star. He was a passerby who walked up to a car with smoke pouring out of it, saw that the man behind the wheel wasn’t getting out, and pulled him free. The car went on to burn down to the chassis.
For police, this is a routine vehicle fire that will end with a report on its cause. With no criminal complaint, no suspect and no one injured, all that remains is determining what set the Audi ablaze at the intersection. For the man who had been sitting in that car, it all ended at the Emergency Center, with a finding of not a single burn.
