Twenty-one Chinese citizens were reported killed in an accident early Thursday when a Chinese-owned passenger bus en route to China caught fire in southeastern Kyrgyzstan, the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan said.

Sun Dapeng, spokesman for China's Embassy in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek, told China Daily on Friday by phone that, according to the passenger list, all 21 on board were Chinese nationals mainly visiting the region on business, but he added that they were still waiting for final confirmation of the victims' identities via DNA tests.

He said that the nature of the accident was making identification difficult.

Baktybek Nuraliyev, a duty officer at the Emergencies Ministry in Bishkek, said the victims' nationalities could not be officially determined as all their possessions, including identity papers, had burned, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

The blaze broke out while the double-decker bus was in a mountainous area, about 263 kilometers southeast of Bishkek.

The Itar-Tass news agencies reported that highway police had discovered the burned-out bus about 500 meters off the side of the Bishkek-Torugart road, which leads to China.

The bus left Bishkek early Thursday morning for Kashi of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Itar-Tass said that all passengers were found seated in the bus, leading to speculation that they had gone to sleep with the engine running for heat. That in turn may have led to a build-up of gases in the bus, which later fueled a fire, Itar-Tass reported.

Sun also told China Daily that representatives of the Chinese Embassy have traveled to the site to take part in the investigation.

The Kyrgyzstani side has expressed deep regret for the sad incident and vowed to spare no efforts investigating the case, said Sun, adding that senior officials of Kyrgyzstan have met Chinese consular officials.

"The Kyrgyzstani police are investigating the case and up to now no progress has been made,'' Sun said.

The official denied that there were signs of foul play targeting the Chinese passengers.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said on Friday that the Chinese side is very concerned about the case, saying that China has urged the Kyrgyzstani side to try to solve the case as soon as possible and notify China of any developments.

A Chinese diplomat and a Chinese businessman in Kyrgyzstan were killed last year.

In May 2000, two Chinese diplomats were killed in Kyrgyzstan in an attack that law enforcement authorities later blamed on Uygur separatists.

Four separatists charged with the May 2000 killings have been imprisoned and are waiting for their appeal to be heard in court.

(China Daily March 29, 2003)