MIE (TR) – An elderly male driver crashed into a house in Yokkaichi City on Saturday and his car burst into flames, setting the house ablaze, authorities said.
The fire was quickly extinguished by 11 fire trucks, but the 80-year-old driver’s car and the first floor of the house totaling some 30 square meters was scorched, TBS News reports (Dec. 10).
Police quoted the driver as saying he “crashed because I mistook the accelerator for the brake.”
Nobody was inside the home and the driver was uninjured, authorities said.
Police are investigating whether the car crash ignited a kerosene tank placed outside by a resident of the home, the Sankei Shimbun reported.
The driver was driving around his neighborhood to warm up the engine, police said.
