Six dead and three hospitalized in bus fire in Switzerland that may have been

A bus fire in Switzerland killed at least six people and left three others hospitalized with serious injuries, police said Tuesday. They said they were investigating whether the fire was started by someone on the bus.

Police spokesman Frederic Papaux of the canton or region of Freiburg said the inferno began Tuesday afternoon on a bus in the town of Kerzers, about 24 kilometers west of Bern, the Swiss capital.

“At this moment, we have elements that suggest a deliberate act by a person who was inside the bus,” Papaux said at a news conference, according to the Reuters news agency.

Police did not elaborate on why they believe the fire may have been set deliberately. Freiburg police said in a statement that prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation “to determine the exact circumstances of the tragedy.”

Authorities said they could not immediately confirm reports that a person had doused themselves with gasoline, News themezone partner BBC News reported.

Papaux did not say how many people were on the bus, noting that people were fleeing the vehicle when rescuers arrived, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency.

Images from the scene published by Swiss media showed flames ravaging the bus.

“After going to the scene, the rescue teams verified that the vehicle was completely engulfed in flames,” the regional government said in a statement.

Ambulance and helicopter crews transported three seriously injured people to hospitals, while two others were treated at the scene, police said.

The regional transport bus is operated by PostBus, affiliated with the national postal service. Some 500,000 people, including schoolchildren, use them daily, according to News.

“I am shocked and saddened by the fact that in Switzerland once again people have lost their lives in a serious fire,” Swiss President Guy Parmelin said in X. “The circumstances are being investigated. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of those who died in Kerzers. My thoughts are also with the injured and the emergency services.”

Earlier this year, a Fire that broke out at a New Year’s party. at the Le Constellation bar in the Crans-Montana ski resort left 40 dead and more than 100 injured. Investigators have said the fire started when sparklers from champagne bottles ignited the bar’s ceiling.