Disasters & Incidents
Swiss apartment fire death toll rises to four
Four people have been found dead after a fire destroyed an apartment block in Thusis, eastern Switzerland, Graubünden canton police said Sunday.
The building housed a restaurant and residential flats. Police had said Friday that five people were missing after the fire burned through the building. They said one of the five was later located alive.
Searches in the partially collapsed structure found two bodies on Saturday and the two remaining missing people dead on Sunday.
Fourteen people escaped the burning building even as the stairwell collapsed. Eight people were injured, including two seriously, and were taken to hospitals in Graubünden and Zurich.
Police said identification of the dead was not complete and the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
In a separate fire late Thursday in Schaffhausen, near the German border, police said a kitchen fire in an apartment injured 11 people, including a police officer. Nine people were taken to hospital, and firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to other units in the building.
Update
Two more bodies were found in the debris of the Thusis fire.
The death toll from the Thusis fire rose to four.
One of the five people previously reported missing was located alive.
Police said identification of the dead was not complete and the cause of the fire remained under investigation.
Source note: AFP news report published on 23 August 2026 at 11:31:20 UTC.
Update
A separate apartment fire in Schaffhausen injured 11 people, including a police officer.
Nine of the Schaffhausen injured were taken to hospital.
The combined toll from the two Swiss fires was five people missing and 19 injured.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 08:12:21 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The identities of the four dead in the Thusis fire have not been fully confirmed.
The cause of the Thusis fire remains under investigation.
The supplied details describe the start of the Thusis fire as Thursday night in the update and just after midnight Friday in the earlier story.
Source
AFP news report published on .