Ten passengers were killed after a bus in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province caught fire Saturday afternoon, local authorities said.

The accident happened at about 3:00 PM at Zhaoyuan County, Daqing City when the bus was heading to a village from the county seat, a municipal emergency command center official said.

Fire broke out when the driver stopped the bus and opened the cover of a device beside him for safety check after he felt the bus was in abnormal condition, he said.

There were 17 people on the bus. Seven managed to escape.

The licensed bus was put into operation only one month ago.

The cause of the accident is being investigated.

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2009)