Traffic on the move after blaze near Zurich station

The site of fire near Zurich main station, as seen late Saturday afternoon Keystone

The area around Zurich’s main station has been reopened to traffic a day after a dramatic blaze caused severe damage in a building nearby.

The Bahnhofbrücke to Central areas were opened to cars, trams and buses again during the night, the Swiss news agency SDA-ATS said. Futher sections, such as underpass near the Swiss National Museum up to the Rudolf-Brun-Brücke, have now been reopened, after the situation was assessed by structural engineers, Zurich city police said in a statementExternal link late Sunday morning.

Traffic had been disrupted in the area around the main station on Saturday after a huge fire broke out in a commercial building near Zurich main station in the early hours of Saturday morning.

swissinfo.ch could report that traffic was flowing quite normally around the station, which is Switzerland’s largest, on Sunday morning. The immediate area around the damaged building – which is over the road from the main station and not far from the Coop supermarket – is still cordoned off, with security officials standing guard. This measure was confirmed by the Zurich city police statement.

Traffic flowing on Sunday morning swissinfo.ch/Isobel Leybold-Johnson

Sunday morning at Zurich station – traffic getting back to normal after Saturday's fire in a building nearby. pic.twitter.com/mg8H01qDVqExternal link

— Isobel Leybold (@IsobelLeybold) 26 August 2018External link

The first calls about the blaze came in at 2.16 AM on Saturday. The flames shot several metres high into the sky and could be seen around the city.

The corner building’s attic was completely in flames by the time the fire service arrived at the Bahnhofquai location and the blaze then spread to further parts of the building and into another adjacent building. Firefighters were able to get the fire under control by around 4AM. The building was empty and being renovated, according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

The extent of the damage is huge, a Zurich emergency services statement said.

Eyewitnesses said that they heard two explosions at around 2.30 AM, with at least one gas bottle exploding. Police have found parts of a gas bottle in Bahnhofstrasse. A police officer suffered ear trauma due to the explosions. It is not known if there are any further injuries at this time.

The cause of the fire also remains unknown and police are appealing for witnesses.