Christmas holiday turns into nightmare after van goes up in flames and couple stranded in Outback

A dream holiday turned into a nightmare for a couple after their van caught fire and the pair became stranded in the Outback. 

Adam Papadopoulos and Maddalena Bertato were on the Nullarbor, about 1,000km outside of Perth when trouble struck them.

Gale force winds rocked the vehicle before it rolled off the road, Perth Now reported.

‘The van, started to roll, and it rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled,’ Ms Bertato said. 

An injured Ms Bertato became wedged in the overturned vehicle.

‘I look left and I see her with one foot out of the windscreen, there’s no window,’ Mr Papadopoulos said.

With a fractured neck, Mr Papadopoulos managed to safely pry his partner from the van before it went up in flames. 

‘It just completely caught fire, the whole van was on fire, like a fireball,’ Mr Papadopoulos said. 

Ms Bertato was left with a fractured arm and an exposed bone, a fist-sized hole in her knee and ripped tendons in her ankle.

Mr Papadopoulos and Ms Bertato had sold up in London to buy the van so they could take a road trip around Australia. 

Now the pair were left stranded and injured and they they had just witnessed their entire life-savings go up in flames.

A passing driver spotted the troubled pair and took them halfway to Norseman, before an ambulance and plane carried them the rest of the way to Royal Perth Hospital. 

Mr Papadopoulos was released from hospital while Ms Bertato remains in hospital with months of rehabilitation ahead.  

With a fractured neck, Mr Papadopoulos managed to safely pry his partner from the van before it went up in flames, (pictured, Nullarbor)

Mr Papadopoulos was released from Royal Perth Hospital (pictured) while Ms Bertato remains in hospital with months of rehabilitation ahead