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CRIME

Family shot before house fire: Swiss police

Five people found dead in their burned-out house in western Switzerland this week were shot before the fire, police said Saturday, voicing suspicion a father had killed his family then himself.

Smoke billows from the roof of a residential house that caught fire after a large explosion in Yverdon-les-Bains, western Switzerland, where five people were found dead
Smoke billows from the roof of a residential house that caught fire after a large explosion in Yverdon-les-Bains, western Switzerland, where five people were found dead earlier this week. They were shot before the fire, the police of the canton of Vaud said on Saturday. Photo: Olivier ALLENSPACH / FLASHPRESS/ALLENSPACH / AFP

“After two days of intense investigations, a family drama is the hypothesis favoured by the prosecutor in charge of the criminal investigation and the investigators,” police in the western Vaud region said in a statement.

Emergency services were alerted early Thursday after a massive explosion followed by a raging fire engulfed a detached house in the lakeside town of Yverdon-les-Bains, in Vaud canton.

The bodies of all five family members — a 45-year-old man, a 40-year-old woman and three girls aged five, nine and 13 — who lived there were eventually found in the rubble.

Autopsies determined that each had been shot, resulting in wounds that could have caused their deaths.

“A weapon was found near the father, who may have carried out the four other homicides, before ending his own life,” the police statement said.

There was so far no indication that anyone else had been involved, it added.

The cause of the fire had meanwhile not yet been formally established, the statement said.

However, police pointed out that “large quantities of accelerant, possibly gasoline” had been found in various rooms throughout the house.

“This could explain the level of damage to the building,” the statement suggested.

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LAUSANNE

American tourist ‘violently attacked’ in Lausanne

A woman visiting from the United States was stabbed during a robbery attempt while sightseeing in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

American tourist 'violently attacked' in Lausanne

The attack occurred at the end of May, but the Swiss media reported it on Tuesday.

The victim, in her 50s, was “violently” attacked by a man with a knife while sightseeing in the Old Town, according to Lausanne’s newspaper 24 Heures. The attempted robbery was confirmed by local police.

The tourist was stabbed in the shoulder as the assailant tried to flee with her bag.

A local shopkeeper said she was “alerted by cries of distress in English” and witnessed the victim “lying on the ground and trying to defend herself against a man who was attacking her. The scene was extremely violent.”

Even though passersby attempted to intercept the attacker, he managed to escape.

He was, however, caught and arrested shortly thereafter. Police said the perpatrator was known for prior criminal acts.

This was the second case of a brutal attack in Switzerland  against a US tourist in a span of several months.

In February, an American woman was raped and beaten in Geneva. 

The suspect in that case lived in France and, according to the Geneva prosecutor’s office, was arrested “outside Switzerland.” 

Does this mean the two cities are unsafe for tourists?

Lausanne police said that no incidents “targeting tourists in particular” have been reported in the Vaud capital.

But reading about these attacks probably doesn’t fill you with confidence regarding your personal security in Switzerland.

Still, you should put these unfortunate incidents in perspective.

That’s because Switzerland consistently ranks among the least risky nations in the world, both in terms of personal safety and overall crime rate.

Not only is crime limited in scope, but other statistics also indicate that, in comparison with other countries, Switzerland is very safe.

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