A three-year-old girl was trapped for almost 30 minutes in a locked car after her mother stopped the vehicle to buy goods at a shop in Jalan Expo, Kamunting, near here today.

Kamunting Fire and Rescue station chief Taufiq Abdul Sattar said in the 9am incident, the toddler, Raisha Izara Sofia Rahmanudin, was seated in the child seat in the back seat of the car.

He said the victim's mother, Wanoor Maliesa Mohd Zakir, 35, closed the car doors and rushed to the shop without realising that she had left the keys inside the multi-purpose Proton Exora.

"The mother then contacted the fire department for help and firefighters used a wire to unlock the car door within 10 minutes," he told Bernama.

He said the girl was not injured.

In another incident, the prime mover of a container truck laden with canned drinks caught fire at KM260.1 of the North-South Expressway (north bound) near Menora Tunnel this morning.

According to a Perak Fire and Rescue Department spokesman, a distress call about the incident was received at about 7.44am.

"The fire destroyed up to 40 per cent of the prime mover but no one was injured," he said.

Checks by Bernama found that the incident caused traffic congestion stretching over three kilometres. -- BERNAMA