A fire broke out on a bus in downtown Luzhou, Sichuan province, at about 12:30 pm on Friday. No casualties were reported.

Passengers told the China News Service that about 40 people were aboard Bus No 208 and most were high school students on their way home after morning classes.

"The bus stopped near a senior high school before it caught on fire. Although the bus was severely charred, people onboard managed to flee through the doors," said Yuan Fei, an information officer in the city.

According to scol.com.cn, a major news portal in Sichuan, white smoke rose from the bus before the fire broke out.

The woman driver was terrified but helped evacuate the passengers very quickly, it said.

"Departments in safety supervision, public security, firefighting and transportation in the city convened an emergency meeting and will jointly investigate the case," Yuan said.