Geneva, Aug 21. (dpa/GNA) – Five people are missing after a fire, gutted a building in eastern Switzerland.
Police in the Grisons canton said on Friday that a crane was used to gain access to the building in the town of Thusis, by tearing the roof off after the stairwell collapsed.
Fourteen people were able to escape the burning building. Eight of those rescued were injured, two of them seriously. Emergency services were alerted shortly after midnight to respond to the fire, which broke out on the second floor.
Flames blazed into the night sky from the windows, as shown in photos released by the police. All floors were completely gutted by the fire, including the ground floor, the site of a restaurant.
More than 100 emergency personnel were at the scene. The fire service and police did not initially comment on the cause of the fire.
The blaze comes months after 41 people were killed in a fire in a bar at Switzerland’s Crans-Montana ski resort, during New Year’s celebrations.
GNA