Two of the 76 passengers injured in Friday's bus blaze in southwest China died in hospital early Sunday, bringing the death toll to 27.

The two, who both suffered serious burns, included a 69-year-old man, from Tianhui Township, who died in the Chengdu Army General Hospital at around 9:20 a.m., said Yang Wei, director of the Chengdu City Health Bureau, at a news briefing Sunday.

The other was a 17-year-old boy named Liu Qi, who died around 5 a.m. in the Chengdu No. 2 People's Hospital, said the official.

The accident occurred in the morning rush hour Friday, when the No. 9 bus was on its way from Tianhui Township to downtown Chengdu, capital of Sichuan and caught fire under the Chuanshan Viaduct.

Sabotage could not be ruled out as the cause of the blaze, said an official on Saturday.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2009)