Bus

The NFRS told Nauru Media News that their investigations into the fire last Friday indicate arson.

Officers from NFRS responded to a call about a fire on a bus which was full of rubbish in Boe.

The fire also burnt coconut trees nearby.

The Fire and Rescue Services is urging residents to refrain from burning anything without first securing the area to burn by cleaning the surroundings in case the fire spreads, especially in a close residential area.

South African tourists are among the injured. Most of those hurt suffered minor injuries, while three were treated in hospital, officials say.

A device went off close to the museum fence as the bus was passing.

It is not yet known who was behind the bombing but Islamist militants have attacked tourists in Egypt in the past.

In December, three Vietnamese tourists and a local tour guide were killed after a roadside bomb hit their bus.

Reports say the man travelled almost 300 kilometres from Koumac to Boulouparis where he tried to get his bags from deep within the bus.

Unaware of him, the driver shut the hold remotely and continued the journey towards Noumea.

The man's daughter said he called her using his mobile phone, upon which she unsuccessfully tried to call the driver.

She then contacted the police who intercepted the bus and freed the man after he had travelled 30 kilometres locked up.

"The passenger bus was on its way from Kandahar to Kabul when it collided with a fuel tanker," Zabul's Governor, Bismillah Afghanmal, told AFP.

The collision sparked an inferno and many of the victims, including women and children, were burned beyond recognition, he said.

Some of the wounded were rushed to hospitals in provincial capital Qalat as well as neighbouring Kandahar province, said Ghulam Jilani Farahi, deputy Zabul police chief.