Fire broke out on a bus in Beijing yesterday as it approached a toll gate in the capital's Tongzhou District.

A man suspected of starting the blaze was detained by police who had rushed to evacuate passengers. No one was hurt in the incident but some passengers' belongings were damaged.

The bus driver, Cheng Weiguo, 33, told the Beijing News that he pulled on the brakes after he heard passengers shouting. The newspaper said the suspect, a 51-year-old man from Beijing's Daxing District, had boarded the bus wearing a backpack.

Cheng said the man had tried to run off but was caught by police.

The bus, designed to carry 56 people, was full at the time and heading from Yanjiao, a satellite town neighboring Beijing, to the capital's downtown area.

A woman passenger told the newspaper that she had seen a man sitting in the middle of the bus take something out of his backpack before the fire.

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