- Title: REFILE: Eyewitness to deadly Swiss bus fire recounts trying to help passengers
- Date: 11th March 2026
- Summary: KERZERS, SWITZERLAND (MARCH 11, 2026) (REUTERS) WHITE TENT AT SCENE OF BUS FIRE FLOWERS LEFT AT SCENE VARIOUS OF ASH ON GROUND VARIOUS OF WOMAN LEAVING FLOWERS, MEDIA REPORTING AT SCENE BURNT PLANTS NEAR SITE OF FIRE / FLOWERS (SOUNDBITE) (Swiss German) EYEWITNESS, ZEYNEL TEKE, 61, SAYING (AUDIO AS INCOMING): “The bus arrived from Murten in direction of Kerzers (gestur
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Kerzers bus fire eyewitness six people killed
- Location: KERZERS, SWITZERLAND
- City: KERZERS, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Fires
- Reuters ID: LVA001299711032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A resident of the Swiss town of Kerzers described how he ran to help passengers on board a bus that burst into flames on Tuesday (March 10) evening, leaving at least six people dead.
Police said the bus became engulfed in flames on Tuesday evening on a road in Kerzers, a town of about 5,000 inhabitants in the western canton of Fribourg, about 20 km (12 miles) from the Swiss capital Bern.
"I started running to help as quickly as possible and helped two, three people to get out," Zeynel Teke, 61, said on Wednesday (March 11) saying he saw the bus come to a stop from his food stall.
Teke tried to put out the flames with his hands, injuring himself slightly in the process before trying to use a fire extinguisher on the bus, but said the heat from the flames was too intense to get close.
The six fatalities have not been identified and it was unclear if the person suspected of starting the fire was among them.
"Seeing this before my eyes, it could be my child or your child... It’s tough," Teke said.
Swiss investigators are working from the hypothesis that a man on the bus set fire to himself, officials said, but that there was no evidence to suggest it could be an act of terrorism.
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