(Graphic) 26 dead after tourist bus crashes and bursts into flames in Taiwan

A tour bus carrying visitors from China burst into flames on a busy highway near Taiwan's capital on Tuesday, burning to death all 26 people on board, officials said.

The accident took place on the No. 2 national highway in Taoyuan county, where the island's international airport is located, the county fire and rescue service said in a statement.

It said 24 of those on board were visitors from China's Liaoning province who had been scheduled to fly home on Tuesday afternoon. The others killed were the driver and a tour guide, both Taiwanese.Taiwan's China Times newspaper said that no one aboard made it off the burning bus, and that many of the bodies had been badly charred.

 There was no official word on the cause of the fire, although Taiwan's official Central News Agency and others reported that the bus apparently burst into flame after spinning out of control and smashing into the highway's guard rail. However, the exact sequence of events wasn't immediately clear.