I was on my way to lectures when I saw a taxi catch fire and explode

It was meant to be an ordinary walk to lectures after a pleasant lunch down the pub.

So imagine Stuart Watson’s horror as he turned the corner to dodge a flaming taxi careering down the street.

The fresher was on his way to an afternoon in the labs when he saw the driver of a Vauxhall Insignia exit his car — because it was on fire.

Electrical Engineer Stuart watched as the fire crews rushed to the extinguish the blazing vehicle.

The 19-year-old said: “It escalated so quickly. I just had lunch in the Garret pub before my afternoon lab when a taxi came driving on to Sackville Street on fire.

“The driver didn’t seem to notice as it was only a small fire at the start but someone on the street ran up to tap on his window and say, ‘mate, your car’s on fire’.

“The taxi driver came to a stop and got out from his car. He looked underneath and noticed the fire was spreading.

“He cleared out of there and a campus security guard phoned the fire department.

“I said to my friend, ‘we can be five minutes late for labs for this’.”

Stuart said: “It was spreading massively by then so when the fire crew arrived 10 minutes later it was huge. Four seconds after they arrived they were dealing with the fire. It was pretty impressive.

“The driver was hiding around the corner looking nervous down the other end of the street on the phone.

“Thankfully nobody was hurt. The worst that happened is the driver is probably going to lose his excess.”

He added: “The selfie I took maybe isn’t the best idea. But I’m from Belfast and we were joking with the guard earlier that it all took me home with the sights of a burnt-out car and the smell of rubber burning.”