COLOMBO, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were injured and rushed to hospital after a passenger bus caught fire in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka on Wednesday, police said.

The bus had been heading to nearby Kahagolla from Diyatalawa town when it suddenly caught fire.

Local media reports said those injured were mostly air force and army soldiers who had arrived from the northern town of Jaffna at the Diyatalawa military camp.

Among those injured was a woman. All injured had been rushed to the Diyatalawa state hospital.

Police said it had launched investigations. The cause of the fire was yet unknown.