Six dead and five injured after man allegedly sets himself alight on bus

At least six people have died in a bus blaze in Switzerland after a man allegedly set fire to himself.

Police said the blaze took place in Kerzers, around 25km (15 miles) west of capital Bern, at around 6.25pm (7.25pm UK time) on Tuesday.

The victims, aged between 17 and 65, have not yet been identified and no information about their nationalities have been released.

Five people were injured, including an emergency responder, and three of them were taken to hospital in a critical condition, Fribourg police said in a statement.

Man 'set himself alight' in possible 'wilful act'

The suspect, a man of Swiss origin who has not been identified, is believed to have boarded the bus ​with bags before dousing himself in flammable material and starting the blaze, officials said.

This was corroborated by a witness, who claimed he "poured out petrol and set himself alight" in a video shared with Swiss newspaper Blick.

The man was understood to be ⁠in his 60s and had been reported missing by his family, officials said.

Authorities explained how investigators were going through CCTV footage as well as social media posts to understand the man's motives, and further searches and interviews would be taking place.

Swiss investigators said they saw no evidence ​that the man, who one official described as "disturbed" and was likely among the dead, had intended to commit any kind of terrorist attack.

Officers are set to remain at the scene, where the burnt-out bus is shielded from view by barriers. Residents have been asked to avoid the area.

'It was so shocking'

Witnesses described scenes of horror as the incident unfolded.

Mina Gendre was about to close up the ⁠shop she works in when she saw the bus was on fire. She said: "It was so shocking. I saw ​someone come running out of the bus on fire."

She described seeing bystanders using a jacket to help put out the fire on the person.

Nirosan Vickneswaran, whose cousin was on the bus, said: "We don't know if he's injured or worse. All we know is that somebody set fire to themself."

President 'saddened' by another deadly blaze

Schweizerische Post, the company operating the bus, said in a statement to Swiss paper Der Bund: "Our thoughts are with the injured and the families of the deceased."

Swiss President Guy Parmelin said in a post on X: "It distresses and saddens me that yet more people in Switzerland have lost their lives in a serious fire.

"The background is being clarified. To the relatives of the deceased from Kerzers, I extend my condolences. And I think of the injured & the emergency services."

The bus fire comes just months after a bar blaze in the Swiss mountain resort of Crans-Montana killed 41 people and injured 115 more in the early hours of 1 January.

Most of those who died were teenagers, and many were foreigners, including several from France and Italy.