The fire broke out in an apartment in the house around 9:45 p.m., the Valais canton police said on Saturday. A third party reported heavy smoke development in an apartment building to the canton police operations center.
According to the cantonal police, the fire brigade was able to bring the fire in the house under control and extinguish it around midnight – a total of 30 firefighters were on duty, as the Valais cantonal police said at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency.
A man was taken unconscious from an apartment and flown to a hospital in an Air Glaciers helicopter. According to the police, his condition is critical. Six other residents were taken to a hospital with ambulances, supported by the fire brigade.
For safety reasons, a total of 50 people were evacuated from three buildings. There was considerable damage to the affected apartment building, as the Valais cantonal police said. The public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation.