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Six die in Swiss bus blaze after man thought to have set fire to himself

11 March 2026 23:42 (UTC +04:00)

Six people died and three were injured in a bus fire in a small Swiss town believed to have been caused by a man on ‌board who set fire to himself, authorities said on Wednesday, APA reports citing Reuters.

Swiss investigators said they saw no evidence that the man, who one official described as "disturbed" and was likely among the dead, had intended to commit any kind of terrorist attack.

The bus was engulfed in flames on Tuesday evening on a road near the centre of Kerzers, a town of about 5,000 inhabitants in the western canton of Fribourg, about 20 km (12 miles) from the Swiss capital Bern, police said.

"As for the motive, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this could be a terrorist act," said Raphael Bourquin, attorney general of the canton of ⁠Fribourg.

A criminal investigation has been opened into homicide, arson, and endangering the lives of others, Bourquin said.

The victims were aged between 17 and 65, the authorities said, without giving details on nationalities.