Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Failure of Telsa's automatic door handles and an "unreasonably dangerous" fire risk caused the death of a doctor who was killed in a fiery crash near Miami, his widow claims in a lawsuit against the electric car company.

Liliana Awan filed the suit against Tesla in Broward Circuit Court earlier this month over the February death of her husband, Dr Omar Awan, a 48-year-old anesthesiologist. The couple had five children.

Tesla's founder and CEO, Elon Musk. Credit:Bloomberg

Tesla Motors Inc and its Florida distributor, Tesla Florida Inc, are named as defendants. The company, based in Palo Alto, California, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the suit.

Omar Awan was driving his leased 2016 Model S when it left the roadway, swerved through three lanes of traffic, hit a median strip and some trees and burst into flames, a police report stated.