IPOH: A total of 17 passengers and two drivers escaped unscathed when the double-decker express bus they were on caught fire northbound at KM375.4 of the North-South Expressway (PLUS) near Tanjung Malim early this morning.

Perak Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) director Sayani Saidon said the Slim River Fire and Rescue Station (BBP) received a call at 5.19 am and reached the scene about 20 minutes later, with assistance from the Tanjung Malim BBP.

He said that when the team arrived at the scene, the express bus, carrying 17 passengers comprising 14 men and three women, was 80 per cent burnt.

"All the passengers managed to get off the bus before the fire spread. No one was injured," he said in a statement today.

He said that it was learnt that the bus was on its way from Mersing, Johor to Kangar, Perlis.

-- BERNAMA