2026 Kerzers bus fire

On the evening of 10 March 2026, a PostAuto bus caught fire on Murtenstrasse (street) after having arrived in downtown Kerzers at about 18:25 local time. The bus had just arrived on PostBus route B122, which runs from Düdingen to Kerzers. Firefighters, police, and paramedics responded with a large contingent. Upon arrival, emergency personnel found the vehicle completely engulfed in flames. According to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, which cited fire experts, the fire could have involved a flashover which rapidly ignited combustible materials on the bus; the thick smoke arising prior to such an event could have hindered passengers' sight, making it difficult to find the emergency hammers to break the window to let them escape. A witness whose automobile repair shop was close to the scene said that the fire had broken out very quickly, and "within moments" the entire bus was ablaze. Another witness who lived right near the scene reported that a man with a stone had broken one of the bus's windows, allowing one passenger to escape. == Victims ==

On 11 March 2026, police announced that all victims had been identified. Two women, aged 25 and 39, one boy aged 16, and one man aged 29, all of whom were Swiss nationals and lived locally, The suspect, a 65-year-old Swiss man, also died. == Background ==

The man who immolated himself has not been identified to the public by name, but was described by police at first as being of Swiss origin. Additionally, the police believe the man was in his sixties, had been reported missing by his family, and was "disturbed." No motive has been determined, and the police state they have no evidence to indicate terrorism. At a press conference, Attorney General Raphaël Bourquin said that the man who started the fire had got on the bus with bags in his hand, and that witnesses' statements had described his behaviour as odd. He has been described by his next of kin as somebody who lived on society's edges, and who was mentally disturbed. The police investigation revealed that the man who is thought to have started the fire got on the bus in Düdingen, about south of Kerzers, at about 17:45 local time, setting himself on fire roughly 40 minutes later, when the bus arrived in Kerzers. == Reaction ==

Stefan Regli, the bus company's head, offered his condolences. Swiss President Guy Parmelin did likewise, and said on X that it shocked and saddened him that once again people had lost their lives in a serious fire in Switzerland; a bar fire had occurred in Crans-Montana two months earlier, in January 2026, killing 41. == See also ==