Zurich swimmers find live hand grenade on riverbed; Geneva’s crime rate is on the rise; plus other Swiss news in our roundup this Friday.
Zurich swimmers find live hand grenade on riverbed
Swimmers in a Zurich river bathing area spotted a live hand grenade on Thursday, police said.
The device, from the former Yugoslavia, was recovered and detonated by experts. Nobody was injured.
Morning bathers at the Unterer Letten site reported seeing what looked like a hand grenade at the bottom of the River Limmat.
Police divers conducted a reconnaissance mission and confirmed it was indeed a hand grenade. The device was around a metre away from the riverbank.
The Swiss army’s bomb disposal unit was called in, with two of their experts conducting another dive.
During the recovery operation, police cordoned off the immediate area.
The Zurich Forensic Science Institute took the hand grenade away in a specialised vehicle for detonation in a controlled explosion. (AFP)
Geneva’s crime rate is on the rise
Figures released by the Foundation for the Attractiveness of Geneva show that between 2022 and 2025, criminal offences rose by 14.1 percent – climbing from 43,838 to 50,020 – while the population grew by only 3.7 percent.
Despite a high police-to-population ratio, the canton remains the second most affected in Switzerland, with 94.2 offences per 1,000 inhabitants, trailing only Basel-City.
Offences in Geneva are primarily driven by property crimes, which increased from 32,057 to 36,844 cases over three years. Notably, vehicle thefts rose by 19.1 percent, while burglaries increased from 3,334 to 3,410 cases.
Rents fell in 15 cantons in July, but are still high overall
New rents have dropped in more than half of Switzerland’s cantons last month, according to the Rent Index released by Homegate real estate marketplace.
Nidwalden recorded the sharpest decline, with a drop of 4 percent, followed by Schwyz (-1.9 percent) and the cantons of Geneva and Uri (-1.5 percent each).
Rents also declined by 0.4 percent in the canton of Zurich.
However, viewed across Switzerland as a whole, rents were 2.4 percent higher than in previous year.
Graubünden recorded the most significant increase (+7.1 percent). Zug was next (+5 percent), followed by Lucerne (+4.2 percent).
Security gaps in Swiss hospitals raise concerns
In 2025, the drug regulatory body Swissmedic carried out 28 inspections across 26 hospitals and two service providers.
The checks focused on maintenance and safety of medical equipment.
No immediate danger to patients was found during these checks. However, the agency had to order immediate measures in certain cases to rectify deficiencies deemed critical.
The inspection findings are intended to serve as a basis for hospitals to strengthen safety on a long-term basis.
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