At least two people have died and 11 were injured after a violent explosion in Nussbaumen, Canton Aargau on Thursday evening. The emergency services are now trying to discover the cause of the blast, which occurred in a car park under a block of apartments.
Swiss police confirmed that at around 7pm on June 13, a large explosion ripped through the car park of a block of flats in Canton Aargau, next to the Markthof supermarket in Nussbaumen. Locals reported seeing a large plume of smoke emerge from the site of the incident, following a strong shockwave that shattered windows.
"I was sitting on the terrace and could watch the whole thing…It looked like fireworks. The bang was really loud," one eye-witness told 20 Minuten. As part of the operation, police, firefighters and at least two helicopters were used to put out the fire caused by the explosion.
A police spokesperson told 20 Minuten that two people were killed in the car park during the detonation, while 11 people have been rushed to hospital, mostly with cases of smoke inhalation. Residents of two tower blocks were evacuated from the scene during the night and only a few residents have since been allowed back into their homes.
The spokesperson added that while the fire brigade was successful in putting out the fire in the car park, and no further dead or injured have been found, “there is great chaos in the garage and immense damage to the building and the parked vehicles.” They also noted that "there are still areas that are at risk of collapse".
On Friday, Aargau cantonal police spokesperson Daniel Wächter said that "the search for the cause of the fire is still ongoing. The damage in the underground car park is immense." However, he announced that according to their initial findings, it is assumed that the explosion was an accident. At the time of writing, no criminal investigation is being conducted.