A father and his two young sons were lucky to survive an incident at Tiavi where the engine of their green Suzuki failed before it exploded on Tuesday night.

When the Samoa Observer arrived on Wednesday afternoon, the burnt vehicle was left on the side of the road.

An eyewitness, who spoke to the Samoa Observer on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that no one was injured.

"The owner lives just up the hill at Tiavi,” she said. “He was with his two sons and they had just returned from a long trip.”

The car’s condition wasn’t great, she added.

“It wasn't a new car. The car usually dies or shuts down in the middle of the road and I am not surprised that it exploded, he knew he had to fix it but he never did.”

No other vehicle was involved.

"It was just a few minutes past 11 last night when the car started burning. We tried to put it out with water but it wasn't helping.”

Neighbouring families contacted F.E.S.A. who turned up and put out the fire.

The owner of the vehicle has been told to remove it from the side of the road.