British tourists wake to see car fire crime in Rockhampton

British tourists staying overnight in Central Queensland have given a first-hand account of a fiery crime that woke them in the early hours and put them within metres of danger. VIDEO

Police are appealing for anyone with information or footage of a ferocious car fire in Rockhampton in the early hours of Sunday to come forward.

A Toyota Yaris was engulfed in flames about 3.30am at the corner of German Street and Sunset Drive in Norman Gardens, just metres from where two British tourists were sleeping in their mini-van.

They gave a dramatic account of the fire, which a Queensland Police Service spokesperson said on Monday was under investigation.

“Police are appealing to anyone with information, or anyone in the area at the time who may have relevant CCTV or dashcam vision, to come forward,” the spokesperson said.

Tourists John and Freya, who are travelling Australia, arrived in Rockhampton about 5pm on Saturday and spent the night sleeping in their mini-van at the First Turkey carpark at the end of German St, bordering the mountain bike reserve on the city’s northside.

“We’re just passing through - we need to get into a mechanic (on Monday) basically,” John said.

About 3am on Sunday, Freya was woken by the sounds of “guys outside”, which she thought nothing of initially.

“Then I woke up again about half an hour later and saw this like orangeness. We have that sun visor at the front so I couldn’t really see that well,” she said.

“I was like ‘what’s going on, there’s just a bunch of light’.

“Then I had a better look and I was like, ‘oh sh..! there’s a car on fire’.”

The car was destroyed in the blaze on July 7. Photo Pam McKay.

Freya woke John up and the couple’s concern turned to their van which had a “dead battery” and could not be moved.

They were parked just metres away and feared the flames from the burning car nearby could spread.

“It was in such a big ball of flames - we thought if the wind started blowing towards the van (it could catch fire as well),” John said.

“So we had to try and get our most valuable stuff out of the van.”

Police are investigating after a car burst into flames in North Rockhampton early on July 7.

John also called Triple-0 to report the incident, though they understood emergency services had already been alerted.

“There was quite a few bangs (from the fire),” he said.

Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics were at the scene at 3.34am where they assessed one stable patient who declined to be taken to hospital.

A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said police were investigating the incident.

“The vehicle involved was a Toyota Yaris Cross,” she said.

“Investigations are ongoing - we’re treating it as suspicious at this stage.”

More to come.

Originally published as British tourists wake to see car fire crime in Rockhampton