A fire broke out in the overhead storage of a Chinese passenger jet moments before it was scheduled to take off.

Flight attendants and a passenger threw water and juice over a bag in the luggage compartment as it was engulfed in heavy smoke and flames.

The fire was thought to have been triggered by a power bank that was being carried in the bag, reports said. The owner was taken away by police for questioning.

All the passengers were forced to disembark the Boeing 777 following the fire, which happened while the plane was parked on the tarmac at Guangzhou Airport in southern China. It was scheduled to fly to Shanghai.

The passengers and crew were taken to a different aircraft which took off just after 3pm, three hours after the original flight was scheduled to depart.