Granges, Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – One of the largest and most popular garden centres in Valais, Le Point Vert, lost its warehouse and storage area to fire Sunday afternoon 12 July. Employees were working in the building earlier in the day, but no one was there at the time of the fire and there were no injuries. It is the second major fire in the area in a month, with a lumberyard going up in flames 8 June only a couple kilometres away.
Granges, Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A huge cloud hung over the Rhone between Sion and Sierre Saturday and drew crowds from miles around as a lumber yard caught fire and burned nearly to the ground. Dozens of police and firefighters from several towns fought the blaze for three hours and tried to keep crowds away, blocking off several roads in the area. Employees were working at the time but managed to escape and no one was injured.
The lumber yard is near a penitentiary, whose roads are signposted with warnings to keep off, but narrow country lanes around it were crawling with spectators Saturday as the fire roared.
Granges, Solothurn (TSR, Fre) – A couple aged 60 and 55 and their 35-year-old daughter were murdered in Solothurn Friday evening 6 June. Police say they are not considering it a family drama for now. Two of the three were found on the fourth floor of a building in the city centre, in an apartment that was in great disorder and may have been burgled. Two of the victims were bound and gagged, with plastic bags over their heads, but the cause of death is not yet certain.
