Four bodies found after Swiss house explosion
Four bodies have been found after a large explosion and fire ripped through a residential home in western Switzerland Thursday, police said.
Emergency services were alerted to a blast in the house in the town of Yverdon-les-Bains, about 35 km from Lausanne, in the Swiss canton of Vaud at 6:40am, police said.
A blaze engulfed the building following the explosion.
Firefighters could be seen working on the wrecked roof as smoke billowed from the building. Police and ambulances were also sent to the scene, the police said.
Images in the Swiss press showed fire fighters hosing down the still-smoking, burned-out shell of a single-family home, where a family of five — parents and their three daughters — had reportedly been living.
"The building was completely destroyed by the flames. Several occupants died and were found in the rubble," Vaud police spokesperson Florence Maillard said in a statement.
According to 24 Heures Lausanne newspaper, four victims were found dead in the oil-heated house; the fifth, a child, has not yet been found.
The parents of the mother confirmed they had been unable to reach their daughter. They are now cared for by a psychological crisis unit.
The cause of the explosion is unknown. Police launched an investigation and appealed for witnesses to come forward.
"An investigation has been launched," Vaud police spokesman Alexandre Bisenz said, adding that the cause of the fire remained unclear, as did whether the explosion had happened before or after the blaze broke out.
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Emergency services were alerted to a blast in the house in the town of Yverdon-les-Bains, about 35 km from Lausanne, in the Swiss canton of Vaud at 6:40am, police said.
A blaze engulfed the building following the explosion.
Firefighters could be seen working on the wrecked roof as smoke billowed from the building. Police and ambulances were also sent to the scene, the police said.
Images in the Swiss press showed fire fighters hosing down the still-smoking, burned-out shell of a single-family home, where a family of five — parents and their three daughters — had reportedly been living.
"The building was completely destroyed by the flames. Several occupants died and were found in the rubble," Vaud police spokesperson Florence Maillard said in a statement.
According to 24 Heures Lausanne newspaper, four victims were found dead in the oil-heated house; the fifth, a child, has not yet been found.
The parents of the mother confirmed they had been unable to reach their daughter. They are now cared for by a psychological crisis unit.
The cause of the explosion is unknown. Police launched an investigation and appealed for witnesses to come forward.
"An investigation has been launched," Vaud police spokesman Alexandre Bisenz said, adding that the cause of the fire remained unclear, as did whether the explosion had happened before or after the blaze broke out.
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