Eight injured, and five were unaccounted for after the Thusis restaurant fire in Switzerland. | Photo: Police
The Thusis restaurant fire destroyed a building housing a restaurant and apartments in Thusis, in the Swiss canton of Graubünden, overnight Thursday into Friday. Five people are missing, and eight others were injured, according to the Graubünden Cantonal Police.
What We Know About the Thusis Restaurant Fire
The report of the fire reached the police shortly after midnight on Friday. Nearly 100 firefighters from the Thusis, Cazis, Oberer Heinzenberg, Ems-Chemie, and Albula fire departments responded, and firefighting efforts continued into Friday morning, police said.
Fourteen people escaped the burning building. Eight of them were hurt, two seriously, two moderately, and four with minor injuries. Rescue teams from Mittelbünden, Chur, Schiers, and Surselva, along with a Rega helicopter crew, treated the injured and transported them to hospitals in Chur, Thusis, Ilanz, and Zurich, police said.
Search Efforts Continue for Five Missing Residents
Five residents remain unaccounted for. Anita Senti, a spokesperson for the Graubünden Cantonal Police, told the newspaper Südostschweiz that authorities do not yet know whether the missing residents were inside the building when the fire broke out or were elsewhere at the time. She did not release further details about them.
Firefighters battling the blaze. | Photo: Police
According to initial findings, the fire started on the second floor of the building, which housed Restaurant Beverin along with several apartments. The stairwell collapsed during the blaze, forcing crews to open the roof with a crane to continue searching the structure. Because of the collapsed stairwell, the building must now be dismantled layer by layer from the roof down so crews can keep searching for the missing residents, Senti said.
Cause of the Thusis Restaurant Fire Under Investigation
The Graubünden Cantonal Police, working with the local prosecutor’s office, is investigating the cause of the fire. No cause had been confirmed as of Friday afternoon.
Community Response to the Thusis Restaurant Fire
A four-person Careteam Grischun unit supported those affected, their relatives, and emergency responders at the scene. The municipality of Thusis arranged shelter and food for displaced residents. Also on scene were members of the Thusis Samaritan Association, officers from the Chur city police, a representative from the Office of Nature and Environment, a fisheries inspector, and 16 Graubünden Cantonal Police officers.
Thusis is a town of roughly 3,300 people in the Domleschg/Heinzenberg region of Graubünden, near the entrance to the Viamala gorge on the route toward the Alpine passes of San Bernardino and Julier. The town sits at the foot of the small Heinzenberg ski area, also known as Tschappina-Urmein, which offers about 25 kilometers of mostly beginner and intermediate runs served by four lifts. The ski area was not affected by the fire.
This is a developing story. SnowBrains will update as more information becomes available.
Thusis (center) in Switzerland.