A parked car was set on fire by a flare that landed on the vehicle during Labour victory celebrations in Għaxaq on Sunday.

The incident left the car owner, Stephanie Sammut, in despair but thankful no one was inside it.

Sammut was in Gozo when she received a call from the police at around 10am informing her that her Mercedes C-Class Coupe had caught fire after a lit flare fell onto its back windscreen, smashing it and setting the car alight.

By the time she arrived on site after midday it was a “total loss”, she said.

“I have been crying since and I thank God no one was in the car, or passing by. They would have been killed. It could have hit a child in a pushchair,” she said, upset and angry about the irresponsible use of flares and their danger during the “free-for-all” celebrations.

Sammut was told flares could only be used in cases of emergency. But when she got to the site people were still shooting them around as though nothing had happened, she said, adding she was also told nothing could be done to stop them.

The incident was reported to the police and an inquiry is under way, Sammut said.

She pointed to three CCTV cameras in the area where her car was parked in her hometown, close to a band club, in the hope that the perpetrator would be caught.

A fire engine arrived on the scene after it was noticed that the car was in flames and Sammut was informed that, had the fire reached the diesel tank, it would have “exploded in a matter of seconds”, causing even more damage also to nearby houses.

The windows of the car were, in fact, smashed with the heat, which also seared the interiors, while the outer body remained intact.

This was not the only incident involving a flare on the roads on Sunday during the carcades.

A young woman was critically hurt and her five-year-old child grievously injured when a flare caused a fire inside their car.