At least 32 people, mostly children, have died in a bus fire in northern Columbia.

According to BBC News, eighteen passengers and the driver escaped the fire, but dozens of people, mostly aged 14 or under, perished in the blaze.

The bus was returning from a church event near the city of Fundacion, which is 465 miles north of Bogota, the capital of the country.

A regional emergency response official said there was a gasoline canister inside the vehicle, which caused the fire to spread.

Maj. Eduardo Velez said the fire began because of the driver's attempts to start the bus, which had stalled, by pouring fuel into the engine. The driver reportedly accessed the engine through the floor of the bus.

An 11-year-old girl who survived the fiery blast told the local media that the driver got off the bus "to fill the tank with petrol."

She said when the bus caught fire, he ran away to get water and never returned.

"I broke a window and got my sister out, but I couldn't save my two brothers," she said.

The bus did not have any emergency exits.

Neighbors rushed to the scene to try to put out the fire with sand but said the bus burned "within seconds."

The bodies, which were burned beyond recognition, were taken to the city of Barranquilla for identification.

Luz Stella Duran, the mayor of Fundacion, said those injured are in a "delicate state." He added that he hoped the death toll would not rise.

The driver of the vehicle, who did not have a driver's license and did not go through the required inspection, has been arrested. The bus was also not insured.

The President of Columbia Juan Manuel Santos visited Fundacion Sunday to speak to the relatives of the victims.

Santos, who is running for re-election Sunday, promised that he will improve the safety of Colombia's public transportation if re-elected.

"This is a tragedy, which shouldn't have happened," he said.