{"id":5395,"date":"2026-03-11T21:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T21:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/11\/six-die-in-swiss-bus-fire-after-man-thought-to-have-set-himself-alight\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T21:35:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T21:35:16","slug":"six-die-in-swiss-bus-fire-after-man-thought-to-have-set-himself-alight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/11\/six-die-in-swiss-bus-fire-after-man-thought-to-have-set-himself-alight\/","title":{"rendered":"Six die in Swiss bus fire after man thought to have set himself alight"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Fribourg canton\u2019s public prosecutor Raphael Bourquin said the man allegedly responsible for the fire likely died.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>At least six people have died after a bus fire that authorities say may have been caused by a man who set himself on fire in a small Swiss town.<\/p>\n<p>The incident, which also injured five people, took place on Tuesday near the centre of Kerzers, a town in the western canton of Fribourg, about 12 miles (20km) from the capital Bern, police said.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/3\/11\/12-days-how-2025-iran-blueprint-trapped-us-israel-in-longer-war\">12 days: How 2025 Iran blueprint trapped US, Israel in longer war<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/3\/11\/irans-irgc-says-not-one-litre-of-oil-will-get-through-strait-of-hormuz\">Not \u2018a litre of oil\u2019 to pass Strait of Hormuz, expect $200 price tag: Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/3\/11\/un-warns-of-widening-crisis-as-israeli-attacks-displace-750000-in-lebanon\">UN warns of widening crisis as Israeli attacks displace 816,000 in Lebanon<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>According to Fribourg canton\u2019s public prosecutor Raphael Bourquin, the man allegedly responsible for the fire was likely among those who died .<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA witness statement indicated that a man \u2026 of Swiss origin boarded the bus carrying bags. At some point, he doused himself with a flammable substance and set himself alight,\u201d Bourquin told a news conference on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this could be a terrorist act,\u201d he said, adding that the family of the man, who was from Bern canton and in his sixties, had recently \u201creported his disappearance\u201d, and \u201ccurrent evidence describes him as a marginalised and disturbed individual\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>According to Swiss authorities, the victims of the blaze were aged between 17 and 65.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, the cantonal\u00a0police said three of the injured were taken to hospitals while two were treated at the scene. Two of those admitted to hospital remained in the hospital on Wednesday, while one was discharged on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>According to the first findings of the police investigation, the statement said, a person boarded the bus in the nearby town of Duedingen at around 5.45 pm CET (16:45 GMT) and later set himself on fire in Kerzers at about 6.25 pm local time, causing the blaze to spread throughout the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Police said initial hearings and witness testimony indicate that the incident was \u201ca voluntary act without ideological motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4389930\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4389930\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/afp_69b1a60fde91-1773250063.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Switzerland's President Guy Parmelin (2nd L) and President of the government of the Canton of Fribourg Philippe Demierre (L) pay their respect during a memorial ceremony in Kerzers, western Switzerland on March 11, 2026, the day after six people were killed in a bus fire which was seemingly started by a disturbed man on board who set himself alight.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4389930\">Switzerland\u2019s President Guy Parmelin and President of the government of the Canton of Fribourg Philippe Demierre pay their respect during a memorial ceremony in Kerzers, western Switzerland [AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Swiss President Guy Parmelin wrote on X on Tuesday night that the fire \u201cdistresses and saddens\u201d him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe circumstances are being investigated. To the relatives of the deceased from Kerzers, I extend my condolences. And I think of the injured and the rescue workers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Zeynel Teke, 61, who was working at his food stall opposite the bus when it was engulfed in flames, said that while he went to get his fire extinguisher to put out the flames, it was too hot to get close enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so sad to see people burning in front of your eyes. It could be my child, it could be yours,\u201d he told the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n<p>Officials explained that investigators were reviewing social media footage and CCTV to understand the motives behind the man\u2019s actions, and that interviews were expected to take place.<\/p>\n<p>A hotline has also been opened for witnesses to come forward, and Fribourg police said that public prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The incident is the second time this year that a fire has killed many people, after a blaze in a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana killed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/4\/swiss-police-identify-16-more-bodies-after-deadly-new-years-eve-bar-fire\">41 people<\/a> and injured 115 others in January.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fribourg canton\u2019s public prosecutor Raphael Bourquin said the man allegedly responsible for the fire likely died. At least six people have died after a bus fire that authorities say may have been caused by a man who set himself on fire in a small Swiss town. The incident, which also injured five people, took place &#8230; <a title=\"Six die in Swiss bus fire after man thought to have set himself alight\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/11\/six-die-in-swiss-bus-fire-after-man-thought-to-have-set-himself-alight\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Six die in Swiss bus fire after man thought to have set himself alight\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}