A passenger plane has caught fire before takeoff at an airport in South Korea, but all 176 people on board have been safely evacuated.

The fire broke out in the back of the cabin, officials said. All 176 people on board, including passengers and crew members, were evacuated, some with minor injuries.

South Korean officials are launching an investigation into the cause of the fire that engulfed an Air Busan passenger plane, with eyewitness accounts suggesting a power bank may have sparked the blaze.

A passenger aircraft carrying 169 passengers and seven crew members burst into flames at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on Tuesday

The flight A321 had been preparing to travel from Busan in the south-east of the country to Hong Kong. All 176 people onboard were evacuated, with one person with a minor injury taken to hospital, fire authorities told Reuters.

The National Fire Agency said three people suffered minor injuries during the evacuation after a plane belonging to South Korean carrier Air Busan caught fire.

An investigation into a fire that engulfed an Air Busan plane at a South Korean airport this week is being slowed by a large amount of fuel and oxygen still on board, an air crash investigation official told Reuters.

Passengers evacuated from an Air Busan plane that was engulfed in flames this week at a South Korean airport will have their checked baggage returned to them, after authorities on Friday deemed the jet safe for a full investigation.

The authorities decided to proceed with the joint investigation to determine the cause of the recent blaze aboard an Air Busan without first removing the aviation fuel, the Transport Ministry announced Friday.