Incredible moment broken-down car bursts flames Sydney Harbour Tunnel peak-hour traffic chaos 

Footage from inside the Sydney Harbour Tunnel showed the moment an incredibly lucky elderly woman escaped her car only moments before it burst into flames.

Northbound commuters were forced to a standstill for over an hour on Friday afternoon in peak-hour traffic when the car set alight in the tunnel.

The driver managed to escape to a car that had stopped in front of her before the smoke coming from her bonnet escalated into fire, 9 News reported.

As the flames worsened, tunnel operators dumped over 10,000 litres of water a minute onto them to avoid catastrophe.

Despite the water bombs, southbound lanes had to be closed to allow for emergency vehicles, as well as provide a safe passage for northbound vehicles should the situation turn sour.

The result was a gridlock in traffic that lasted hours, causing some frustrated drivers to take drastic measures to escape the rat-race, including reversing out of the tunnel itself.

She managed to escape to a car that had stopped in front of her before the smoke coming from her bonnet eventuated into fire

The traffic emergency came at the beginning of the October long weekend, with many commuters planning a short getaway out of the city.

New South Wales Transport believe they handled the situation in the best possible manner.  

Coordinator general Marg Prendergast said: ‘We knew it was a Friday night ahead of the long weekend, and we did everything we could to have it open in an hour and a quarter which is pretty good going.’