TIANJIN -- Six people, including five German nationals and a Chinese, died and 14 others were injured after a tourist bus rearended a container truck and caught fire Monday near Beijing, police said.

The site of a road accident which claimed 6 lives on a pivotal expressway linking Beijing with Shanghai on Monday morning, near Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

The bus, whose had a license plate from Beijing, was carrying a group of German tourists and was driving on a pivotal expressway linking Beijing with Shanghai when the accident happened at 8:30 am, said police authorities in Tianjin.

Police said the tour group was organized by the Beijing-based China Youth Travel Service.

It said the identities of the victims were not immediately known.

It was also unclear how many people were traveling in the bus. Witnesses said they saw a few people escaped from the flames.

A photo posted by witnesses on the web showed the whole vehicle was engulfed in flames and dark smoke.

The municipal government of Tianjin has demanded urgent treatment of the injured. The cause of the accident is under investigation.