Tuaran district police chief DSP Dzulbaharin Ismail said the 39 Chinese tourists managed to alight from the vehicle just in time.
He added that the fire was believed to have been caused by a faulty brake, and that the bus driver had caught the scent of burning rubber before stopping the vehicle.
“During his inspection, the driver found that a rear tyre was on fire and ordered all passengers to disembark,” he said when contacted by FMT.
“The driver tried to put out the fire using the fire extinguisher in the bus but it had already spread.”
An advisory from the Fire and Rescue Department said the whole bus had been destroyed by the fire.
Fifteen firemen from the Tuaran fire station were dispatched and arrived at the scene, some 15km away, about 26 minutes later.
They managed to contain the fire at about 8.48pm.
A replacement bus later took the Chinese tourists for the rest of their journey, said a spokesman from the department, adding investigation is ongoing into the cause of the fire.