A major fire broke out in Thusis, in Swiss canton of Graubünden, overnight into Friday. A building housing a restaurant and apartments was completely gutted. Five people are missing, local police reported.
The Graubünden Cantonal Police received the report of the fire shortly after midnight, they said in a press release.
Nearly 100 emergency personnel from the Thusis, Cazis, Oberer Heinzenberg, Ems Chemie, and Albula fire departments were deployed to fight the blaze and operations are ongoing. Preliminary findings indicate the fire started on the building’s second floor.
As the stairwell collapsed, the roof had to be opened using a crane.
Fourteen people managed to escape the burning building. Among them were eight injured individuals: two seriously, two moderately, and four with minor injuries, police said.
They received emergency medical treatment from rescue teams from Mittelbünden, Chur, Schiers, and Surselva, as well as a Rega crew, before being transported to hospitals in Chur, Thusis, Ilanz, and Zurich.
The police are working with the public prosecutor’s office to determine the cause of the fire.
In a separate incident late Thursday, a fire broke out in the kitchen of an apartment in a building in the city of Schaffhausen.
“Eleven people were injured, nine of whom have been taken to hospital,” local police said in astatement, adding that a police officer was among the injured.
Police said firefighters had managed to prevent the blaze from spreading to other units in the building. (With AFP)
More to follow…
