Photo: EPA

At least 26 people have died after a tour bus caught fire in Taiwan’s Taoyuan city, according to local officials, the BBC reports.

The bus smashed into a roadside barrier on a national highway and caught fire, Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

It had been bringing the group of Chinese tourists to Taoyuan Airport to catch a flight back to Dalian.

Officials said there were 24 tourists on board plus a local guide and driver.

“The fire moved very fast. All 26 died,” Lu Jui-yao, an official with the National Highway Police Bureau told Reuters.

Pictures from the scene showed thick black smoke and flames engulfing the bus.