A Minivan on Fire is Merely the Opening Scene of a Chaotic Car Crash in Mexico
A car crash in Mexico has captured the essential chaos of the roads down there, after two cars collided head-on in front of the scene of a car fire. The chaos unfolded in the state of Tamaulipas in the city of Madero on April 22, as local newspaper Sol de Tampico reports. The Spanish-language outlet cites TikTok user merikiim, who recorded the crash from the passenger seat of her car.
As the passenger waits for the stoplight to turn, a shirtless man parked along the busy street frantically tries to smother a fire in the engine bay of a Pontiac Montana. The frenzy of the burning minivan distracts a driver in a Nissan Tsuru, which then runs a red light and slams into a Honda Accord. It’s layers upon layers of chaos, people running amok and cars careening into each other.
WARNING: Please turn your volume down. This Twitter embed has loud techno bizarrely overlaid on the crash, as if the images weren’t loud enough.
While onlookers help fight the fire in the engine bay, the passenger recording from her car speaks with a man off-screen, whom is reportedly the driver. In the original video uploaded to TikTok, the passenger and driver narrate as follows:
Passenger: Oh, they turned out the fire, right?
Driver: No. It’s still burning. It’s on fire below, it’s burning from under.
Passenger: Holy crap! What’s going on!? Oh, my! Instead of water, they pour — HOLY SHIT!
[tires squeal, cars crash]
I got it on camera!
Driver: …that’s what they get for looking.
Passenger: No way! It’s on here, recorded. Is everyone OK? Oh, no, there’s a kid!
And I really think the burning minivan being parked in front of a local church adds to the authenticity of the scene, while the Pepsi Co. truck and food delivery rider give it that local flavor. Oh, and don’t forget the peseras passing by — a common kind of microbus that provides cheap transportation in Mexico.
It’s hard to tell who — maybe even the makeshift firefighter — is at fault.
The newspaper claims the driver in the Nissan Tsuru is mostly to blame for slamming into the Honda Accord. Of course, the reason that driver ran the red was reportedly the sight of the car fire being too great a distraction. Then again, when driving a Tsuru, it’s probably best to stay alert and avoid crashing because of the Nissan’s woeful lack of safety features. The passenger who recorded the scene said that first responders were quick to render aid and extinguish the fire. Below are vantage points from Google Maps for sleuths to examine the scene.
Photo: Google Maps
Screenshot: Google Maps
