Photo credit: abc Gippsland

A bus has been totally destroyed after it was engulfed in flames, due to mechanical fault, near Bruthen this afternoon.

At around 12:45 multiple passengers, many of them children, were self evacuated from the vehicle before the fire took hold. It is reported that no one was injured.

The bus was fully involved when emergency services arrived and they spent an extended amount of time extinguishing the blaze due to its ferocity.

8 CFA trucks responded to the blaze that then caused a nearby grassland to catch alight but crews were able to get the fire under control at around 1:50pm.

Police and paramedics also responded to the incident and Bruthen Nowa-Nowa Road remains closed due to diesel and oil spilling over the road.

UPDATE: the bus was full of students and teachers from Guthridge Primary School. They were on their way to Buchan Caves for a school excursion when the driver noticed a blown tire. All 42 students and others were removed from the vehicle before it caught fire 20 minutes later.