Deadly Swiss bus fire started by ‘disturbed’ man who set himself alight
The blaze, which broke out on the bus in the main street of the small town of Kerzers, killed six and left five injured
The blaze on a bus in Switzerland that killed six people may have been started by a “disturbed” man who set himself alight, the cantonal public prosecutor said on Wednesday.
“A witness statement indicated that a man... of Swiss origin boarded the bus carrying bags. At some point, he doused himself with a flammable substance and set himself alight,” Raphael Bourquin told a press conference.
“There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this could be a terrorist act,” he said, adding that “it appears that this person is among the deceased”.
The fire broke out on the bus in the main street of the small town of Kerzers, around 20km (12 miles) west of the Alpine nation’s capital Bern, at about 6.25pm on Tuesday.
Videos shared on social media showed flames several metres 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.