The main street of the small town of Kerzers where a bus caught fire, killing at least six people and injuring five others in what police said may have been a deliberate act, March 10, 2026. HANDOUT / AFP
A bus fire that killed at least six people in western Switzerland was likely ignited deliberately but probably not as an act of terror, police said on Wednesday, March 11. The fire broke out on the bus in the main street of the small town of Kerzers, around 20 kilometers west of the Alpine nation's capital Bern, at about 6:25 pm on Tuesday. Videos shared on social media showed flames several meters high bursting out from the windows, and black smoke rising into the sky.
In an interview on Wednesday with Swiss national broadcaster RTS, Fribourg Canton police communications chief Martial Pugin confirmed that while "an intentional act is the most likely scenario," at present "there is no evidence" it was a terror attack.
Fribourg cantonal police spokesman Frederic Papaux had told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday evening that the fire "left at least six dead and five injured, three of them seriously." He, too, said that the evidence pointed to the fire being deliberate, but would not be drawn on speculation that the tragedy was a suicide. The police were unable to confirm how many passengers were aboard at the time of the blaze.
