LAGOS (AFP) -- Five passengers were feared killed when their bus rammed into an electric pole in a bid to escape a police patrol, a press report said Saturday.

The incident occurred on Friday around Yaba area of the city when the police demanded a bribe from the bus driver, the ***Vanguard*** reported.

The driver immediately sped off and the police pursued the vehicle, forcing the bus to veer off the road and crashed into a nearby electric pole, the paper said.

It added that five people were feared dead as a result of the crash while a number of others were seriously injured.

The paper said an angry MPB pounced on two policemen and almost lynched them before they were rescued by their colleagues, and added that a police vehicle was burnt on the spot.

Lagos police spokesman Emmanuel Ighodalo confirmed the incident, but could not say if anyone was killed.

"There was an incident. But I don't have any reports on casualties," he said.