{"id":30247,"date":"2026-03-11T23:20:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T23:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/30247\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T23:20:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T23:20:39","slug":"six-killed-in-swiss-bus-fire-after-passenger-sets-themselves-alight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/30247\/","title":{"rendered":"Six killed in Swiss bus fire after \u2018passenger sets themselves alight\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

At least six people have been killed in <\/a>a bus<\/a> fire<\/a> in Switzerland<\/a> after a passenger reportedly set themselves alight.<\/p>\n

Three people were injured in the incident in the town of Kerzers <\/a>with footage shared on social media showing the vehicle engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n

The vehicle was travelling <\/a>in the canton of Fribourg, which is around 12 miles from the country\u2019s capital of Bern.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this stage, we have elements suggesting a deliberate act by a person who was inside the bus,\u201d Frederic Papaux, a spokesperson for Fribourg police said.<\/p>\n

It is too early to tell whether the incident is terror-related, said Christa Bielmann, another local police spokesperson, while local authorities said there is no indication or evidence that terrorism is involved.<\/p>\n

Investigators are looking into reports that a person on board the bus had poured fuel on themselves, Bielmann added.<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Police said the fire on the bus may have been set deliberately after reports of a man setting themselves on fire (Fribourg Cantonal Police)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no indication that suggests we might be dealing with a terrorist attack,\u201d Swiss state councillor Romain Collaud told the Swiss-French broadcaster RTS on Wednesday morning, adding that investigations remain ongoing.<\/p>\n

Three people were injured and taken to hospital and two others caught up in the blaze were examined at the scene but did not need to be hospitalised.<\/p>\n

Two of the injured remain in a serious condition in hospital while the third was able to return home.<\/p>\n

Collaud confirmed that the bus was not electric but one \u201cwith a combustion engine\u201d. The bus belonged to the company, Postauto, with local media reporting it was a postal bus.<\/p>\n

In Switzerland, postal bus services are a public bus service that operate as part of local mail delivery system as well as providing public transport.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The incident took place in Kerzers, several kilometres from Bern (Keystone)<\/p>\n

On Tuesday evening passengers were seen escaping from the burning bus, panicked and injured, Papaux said, adding that no other vehicle was involved.<\/p>\n

Swiss media outlet 20 Minuten said it had seen a video taken at the scene in which an injured person said: \u201cA man set himself on fire. He poured gasoline over himself and then lit himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video after the flames were extinguished showed the charred remains of the vehicle, a yellow so-called Postauto.<\/p>\n

The identification of the six people who died could take several days, MCollaud said, adding it is not known if the person suspected of starting the fire was among the victims.<\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/p>\n

Fire investigators examine the remains of the bus that was \u2018engulfed in flames\u2019 (AP)<\/p>\n

Swiss president Guy Parmelin offered his condolences and said the incident was being investigated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shocks and saddens me that once again people have lost their lives in a serious fire in Switzerland,\u201d he said in a statement on X, noting investigations were under way.<\/p>\n

Switzerland\u2019s parliament commemorated the fire victims at the start of their session as the National Council and Council of States rose for a minute of silence on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned with great dismay of the fire involving a postal bus in Kerzers in the canton of Fribourg. This tragic event is shaking not only a region, a canton, but far beyond,\u201d said Fribourg National Council President Pierre-Andr\u00e9 Page (SVP).<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A floral tribute lays at the site of the bus fire (Reuters)<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the National Council and in my own name, I would like to express our sympathy and sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims and wish the injured a speedy recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Council of States, President Stefan Engler spoke of an incomprehensible fire. \u201cOut of nowhere, an everyday situation takes an unimaginable turn, perhaps on the way home from work or school.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January, Switzerland was rocked by a fire in a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana that killed 41 \u200bpeople and injured 115.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wounds from Crans-Montana are still fresh, fuelling strong reactions today,\u201d Collaud said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are clearly events no one wants to experience, or relive. Yet they seem part of everyday life now, happening more frequently in Switzerland and worldwide, which is unfortunate,\u201d he told RTS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At least six people have been killed in a bus fire in Switzerland after a passenger reportedly set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[18041,17933,17832,17912,17858,18070,18296,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-30247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-switzerland","8":"tag-christa-bielmann","9":"tag-frederic-papaux","10":"tag-fribourg","11":"tag-fribourg-cantonal-police","12":"tag-kerzers","13":"tag-police-spokesperson","14":"tag-romain-collaud","15":"tag-switzerland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116213109500310116","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}