NAGOYA: A bus overturned and burst into flames on a section of an expressway in the central Japan city of Nagoya on Monday, leaving two people dead, local authorities said.

Seven others, all men, aged 20s to 50s, suffered injuries and were taken to hospital. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

The incident occurred on the Nagoya Expressway in Kita Ward in the capital of Aichi Prefecture shortly after 10 a.m. (1 a.m. GMT). The fire was almost put out about an hour and a half later, according to the Nagoya fire department.

The Aichi prefectural police department and others are investigating details of the cause of the incident. The bus was almost completely burned, the police said. A car believed to have collided with the bus also caught fire.

The bus departed from Aichi Museum of Flight in the town of Toyoyama in the prefecture at 9:30 a.m., according to officials of the operator of the bus. It was scheduled to return to the museum at 10:20 a.m. after making stops in the Sakae district of central Nagoya at 9:55 a.m. and at Nagoya Airport in Toyoyama at 10:15.

The bus had a capacity of about 60, but it was not immediately known how many people were aboard at the time of the incident. The company has been unable to contact the driver of the bus since the incident.

Around the site of the incident, which is about 2 kilometers southwest of Nagoya Airport, are commercial facilities and schools.

JIJI Press