Fribourg canton’s public prosecutor Raphael Bourquin mentioned the person allegedly answerable for the fireplace doubtless died.
Revealed On 11 Mar 2026
Not less than six folks have died after a bus fireplace that authorities say could have been attributable to a person who set himself on fireplace in a small Swiss city.
The incident, which additionally injured 5 folks, happened on Tuesday close to the centre of Kerzers, a city within the western canton of Fribourg, about 12 miles (20km) from the capital Bern, police mentioned.
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In line with Fribourg canton’s public prosecutor Raphael Bourquin, the person allegedly answerable for the fireplace was doubtless amongst those that died .
“A witness assertion indicated {that a} man … of Swiss origin boarded the bus carrying baggage. In some unspecified time in the future, he doused himself with a flammable substance and set himself alight,” Bourquin advised a information convention on Wednesday.
“There’s completely no proof to recommend that this might be a terrorist act,” he mentioned, including that the household of the person, who was from Bern canton and in his sixties, had not too long ago “reported his disappearance”, and “present proof describes him as a marginalised and disturbed particular person”.
In line with Swiss authorities, the victims of the blaze have been aged between 17 and 65.
In an announcement, the cantonal police mentioned three of the injured have been taken to hospitals whereas two have been handled on the scene. Two of these admitted to hospital remained within the hospital on Wednesday, whereas one was discharged on Tuesday.
In line with the primary findings of the police investigation, the assertion mentioned, an individual boarded the bus within the close by city of Duedingen at round 5.45 pm CET (16:45 GMT) and later set himself on fireplace in Kerzers at about 6.25 pm native time, inflicting the blaze to unfold all through the car.
Police mentioned preliminary hearings and witness testimony point out that the incident was “a voluntary act with out ideological motivation.”
Swiss President Man Parmelin wrote on X on Tuesday evening that the fireplace “distresses and saddens” him.
“The circumstances are being investigated. To the kinfolk of the deceased from Kerzers, I lengthen my condolences. And I consider the injured and the rescue employees,” he mentioned.
Zeynel Teke, 61, who was working at his meals stall reverse the bus when it was engulfed in flames, mentioned that whereas he went to get his fireplace extinguisher to place out the flames, it was too sizzling to get shut sufficient.
“It’s so unhappy to see folks burning in entrance of your eyes. It might be my youngster, it might be yours,” he advised the Reuters information company.
Officers defined that investigators have been reviewing social media footage and CCTV to grasp the motives behind the person’s actions, and that interviews have been anticipated to happen.
A hotline has additionally been opened for witnesses to come back ahead, and Fribourg police mentioned that public prosecutors had opened a felony investigation.
The incident is the second time this 12 months {that a} fireplace has killed many individuals, after a blaze in a bar within the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana killed 41 people and injured 115 others in January.
