A young man is lucky to be alive after a breakdown on Western Australia's Mitchell Freeway led to a fireball.
The 23-year-old's Toyota Tarago blew a tyre just before midnight on Thursday near west Leederville.
The driver stood nearby waiting for assistance when a car hit the back of the Tarago. Both vehicles exploded on impact.
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For 15 minutes fire crews fought the freeway inferno as paramedics rushed the injured Toyota driver to Royal Perth Hospital.
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Cars were banked up for kilometres, as drivers were diverted and delayed for about an hour.
The driver of the car which hit the Tarago could not be found at the scene, leaving police searching for the person behind the wheel for almost an hour.
The driver, a man in his 30s, later went to the police station himself around 1.30am.
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