Family's car bursts into flames in lion enclosure at Longleat Safari Park

A family was left in a terrifying predicament on an Easter holiday trip to Longleat Safari Park - after their car caught fire in the lion enclosure.

The car overheated at the Wiltshire attraction on Friday afternoon.

Thankfully, rangers managed to rescue a woman and two children before the entire car burst into flames.

Kevin Ashley, from Longleat Safari Park, told the BBC: "The lions were cleared from the enclosure and the safari park was closed."

An eyewitness called Hannah snapped a picture of the horrifying incident and uploaded it to Twitter, writing: "Bad day for someone @Longleat ! And we were in the lion enclosure #notagoodtimeforabreakdown."

Hannah added: "It looked like the radiator went as there was white smoke then it was grey then black, then there was fire!"

A Longleat spokesman told the Daily Mail: "On Friday, at around 1pm, a car overheated in the first lion enclosure.

"The occupants of the vehicle, a female and two children, were quickly picked up by rangers who transferred them into their vehicle and the fire service was called. The car subsequently caught fire after the guests had been escorted out of their car.

"The lions were cleared from the enclosure and the safari park was closed. A route was cleared for the fire engine, which arrived quickly and extinguished the fire."

One family of onlookers managed to capture footage of the scene and uploaded it to YouTube.

The caption read: "Family escaped just a few minutes before the flames started. I feel for the family. Couple of kids. If I'd have been closer I'd have opened my door and told them to get in. Sadly no one in the surrounding cars bothered to do that."

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