Bus fire kills 14 passengers in northern China

A fire that erupted on a public bus in Northern China has killed 14 people and injured 31 others, according to international reports.

Local media and social media accounts claim that the fire broke out at around 7am on Tuesday morning close to a public square in Yinchuan, but that the cause of the fire is still being investigated.

The state news agency, Xinhua has however posted a tweet saying that arson was suspected as the cause, with police adding that they are hunting a suspect, Ma Yongping, in relation to a “major crime”, a few minutes later.

Reports show that there have been a number of bus fires in recent years in the country, with a 35-year-old man being executed last year for starting a fire on a bus that injured 33 in July 2014, among others. British newspaper the Guardian adds that earlier on in 2013, a suicidal man had started a fire on a bus in eastern China that killed 47 people including himself.