Two killed in fireworks-linked explosions in Switzerland

GENEVA: Two men were killed and nearly a dozen people injured when explosions ripped through an underground garage in northern Switzerland, police said on Friday.

Investigators believe fireworks sparked the explosions in the garage in Nussbaum, near Zurich, regional police spokesman Daniel Wachter told a press conference, according to the Keystone-ATS news agency.

The bodies of two men -- a 43-year-old Italian national and a 24-year-old Swiss citizen -- were found inside the garage after the explosions occurred at around 7:00pm (1700 GMT) on Thursday.

Eleven people were slightly injured and around 100 had to be evacuated because the explosions sparked a fire that spread to the building above the garage, which suffered considerable damage, police said. Pictures published by Blick newspaper showed a large plume of smoke billowing up and flames licking the bottom floors of a high-rise building in the small town, located around 25-kms northwest of Switzerland´s largest city.