KLUANG, Oct. 21 -- Six passengers and a driver escaped from an express bus that caught fire after it collided with a lorry at Kilometre 78.7 northbound of the North-South Expressway near here last night.

Ayer Hitam Fire and Rescue Station operations commander Mohd Nazrul Yusri Mohd Yusof said 14 firemen, assisted by two Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) machines and two Emergency Medical Response Service (EMRS) units, rushed to the scene after receiving a distress call at 9.10pm.

"The fire involved a Hino express bus and a five-tonne Isuzu lorry. There were seven men, including the bus driver, on board the bus. All the passengers, aged between 23 and 48, escaped with only minor injuries," he said in a statement today.

"However, the 35-year-old ...