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A driver has been arrested in northern Italy after allegedly hijacking a school bus with 51 children on board and setting it on fire.

The children all managed to escape before the bus was engulfed in flames on the outskirts of Milan.

But twelve students were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, reports La Repubblica.

Police named the driver as Ousseynou Sy, a 47-year-old Italian citizen of Senegalese origin.

The man, in his forties, said he was protesting over migrant deaths in the Mediterranean.

"No-one will survive," he said, according to police.

"He shouted, 'Stop the deaths at sea, I'll carry out a massacre'," police spokesman Marco Palmieri said.

Video circulated online showed firefighters dousing the bus, which had been completely gutted by flames, leaving only the charred metal frame.

The suspect had allegedly ordered the children's hands to be bound and threatened to pour petrol over them and set them alight.

One of the group managed to call the police, who rushed to the scene and broke the bus windows to get everyone to safety before the flames destroyed the vehicle.

Some of the passengers were treated in hospital, mostly for cuts and scratches related to the evacuation.

The driver was apprehended and was being treated for burns.

Police said he had previous convictions but did not specify further details.

Sky TG24 said the driver had worked for the bus company for 15 years without any employment-related issues.

"Investigators must clarify how the transport company permitted such a delinquent ... to drive a bus, especially one carrying children," said Riccardo De Corato, a Milan provincial official for security.