Police have arrested the suspected arsonist behind the bus fire in Northwest China on Tuesday which killed 17 people and injured 32 others.

The suspect, Ma Yongping, was reportedly hiding in a building under construction site in Yinchuan county when the police captured him.

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Chinese authorities said three more bodies were retrieved from the bus bringing the number of fatalities to 17.

Eight men and nine women perished in the fire, while 32 people who sustained injuries are currently being treated at the Ningxia Medical University General Hospital in Yinchuan, said Ma Kai, the deputy mayor of Yinchuan.

Doctors attending to the fire victims in the hospital said one of the injured was in critical condition, while five others were in serious condition. The rest of the patients were pronounced in stable condition.

The bus, which was enroute to Yichuan Railway Station, suddenly caught fire at the juncture of a furniture shop, sending the passengers panicking and rushing towards the door.

The incident happened in the morning of Tuesday at the Helan county as the bus was on its first trip of that day.

The 84-seater vehicle was traversing a long stretch of the road when the bus burst into flames, trapping most of the 40 passengers onboard.

The passengers rushed to the front door and pleaded to the driver to open it.

Reports indicate that the fatalities were seated at the back and were unable to rush to the bus door because of the raging flames that instantly engulfed them.

"I was sitting in the front of the bus when people suddenly started screaming 'Fire! The bus is on fire!' When I turned around, the flames were racing toward me, and before I knew it my shoes were on fire, " said Hu Yuexiang, 26.

Tagsbus fire, northwest China, Ma Yongping, 17 bus fire fatalities, 32 injured passengers