Mumbai, Sep 4 - A probe has been ordered after 229 passengers and crew of a Riyadh-bound Air India flight had a narrow escape here Friday as they had to be hastily evacuated after one of the aircraft's engines caught fire while proceeding for take-off.

According to officials, a fuel leak was a possible cause of the fire and the maintenance engineer overseeing the aircraft has been suspended. Both Air India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation have ordered probes.

The ground staff noticed the fire and smoke from the engine around 10:50 a.m. while the aircraft had begun to taxi towards the runway. Four fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire even as a drill was launched to evacuated passengers using slides.

The AI-829 flight, deployed on a Boeing 747-437 aircraft named 'Konark', was bound for the Saudi Arabian capital from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here in India's commercial and entertainment hub.

'The fire was in one of the engines.