A small bus turned over and caught fire under the Siyuan Bridge on Beijing's fourth ring road in the northeastern part of the city, killing eight people on board.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Small buses with no more than 20 seats first appeared in Beijing in 1985. They were ordered to leave the urban area and operate out of the city on September 25, 2000, because most of the buses were in poor condition and produced much pollution.

There are about 1,000 such buses operating in suburb Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2002)