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Aug. 21 (UPI) — Five people were missing feared dead and eight others were injured early Friday after a major fire razed a restaurant with residential apartments above in the Swiss alpine town of Thusis.
Cantonal police in the eastern Graubünden region said in a news release that nearly 100 firefighters from four area fire departments were scrambled to the scene after the blaze broke out on the second floor just after midnight local time.
The release was duplicate-filed under the secondary category of a missing persons appeal.
They said firefighters’ access to the fire was cut off after the stairwell collapsed, forcing them to use a crane to cut open the roof.
Two of the fourteen people who managed to get out of the four story building were seriously injured. Two others sustained moderate injuries and four were slightly hurt.
The injured were taken to hospitals in Chur, Thusis, Ilanz and far away as Zurich.
Images from the scene show flames pouring from the windows of the upper floors, engulfing the top of the building.
Police said they were working with the public prosecutor’s office to investigate the cause of the fire and that they had secured the scene.
After the fire was brought under control emergency responders were seen removing roof layers to enable investigators to search for evidence and possible human remains.