Six die in Swiss bus fire after man thought to have set himself alight

Fribourg canton’s 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 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.

According to Fribourg canton’s public prosecutor Raphael Bourquin, the man allegedly responsible for the fire was likely among those who died .

“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,” Bourquin told a news conference on Wednesday.

“There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this could be a terrorist act,” he said, adding that the family of the man, who was from Bern canton and in his sixties, had recently “reported his disappearance”, and “current evidence describes him as a marginalised and disturbed individual”.