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At least six people died in a bus fire in Switzerland, which was allegedly started by a man inside the vehicle, according to police reports and local media.
Police said the fire broke out in Kerzers, a town in the western region of Friborg, at around 6.25pm on Tuesday. The victims have not been identified.
Five people were injured, including an emergency responder, and three of them were taken to hospital in critical condition, Friborg police said in a statement.
Man ‘burns himself out’ with possible ‘intentional action’
It was unclear if anyone else was injured in the blaze, as officials said it was unknown how many people were on the bus when the fire, which “completely engulfed” the vehicle, started.
A man on the bus “poured petrol and set himself on fire”, claimed a witness in a video shared with a Swiss newspaper Click. This statement was corroborated by other witnesses, according to the report.
A Friborg police spokesman said at a press conference that the fire was likely a “deliberate act”. He added that the force had “information that someone was the cause of the fire.”
He said that although police had received information that someone had poured petrol on his body, he could not confirm this.
Another spokesman said the fire could have been set deliberately, adding that police would not reveal whether the alleged perpetrator was among the injured or dead.
Firefighters and police set up barriers to secure the area. photo: AP
Police have not ruled out a terror act and said an investigation was underway.
Officers will remain at the scene, where the burning bus is shielded from view by a barrier. Residents are asked to avoid the area.
President ‘saddened’ by another deadly fire
Schweizerische Post, the company operating the bus, said in a statement to the Swiss newspaper Der Bund: “Our thoughts are with the injured and the families of those who died.”
Swiss President Guy Parmelin said in a post on X: “I feel depressed and saddened that more and more people in Switzerland are losing their lives in serious fires.
“The background is being clarified. To the families of the victims who died at Kerzers, I offer my condolences. And my thoughts are with the injured & emergency services.”
A barrier surrounded the charred remains of the vehicle. photo: AP
The bus fire occurred just months after a bar fire in the Swiss mountain resort of Crans-Montana killed 41 people and injured 115 others in the early hours of January 1.
Most of those who died were teenagers, and most were foreigners, including some French and Italians.
