No fewer than 40 people have died and 115 people injured after a fire ripped through a bar in a ski resort in southern Switzerland, police have said. A
The fire broke out at around 01:30 (00:30 GMT) during New Year celebrations in a bar called Le Constellation in Crans-Montana.
Investigators examining the incident have not established any cause but have firmly excluded the possibility of an attack.
Individuals from various nations have been impacted. Regional police chief Frédéric Gisler stated that the main focus in the upcoming days was to identify the deceased “so that their remains can be swiftly returned” to their families.
Overnight, 13 helicopters, 42 ambulances, and 150 emergency personnel were dispatched to the fire location in the tourist-frequented Valais region.
Many of the injured suffered from serious burns, and 60 individuals were transported to Sion Hospital in Valais, with a “considerable number” in critical condition, stated Regional Governor Mathias Reynard.
The intensive care unit was at full capacity, and Reynard stated that the local community should be especially cautious to prevent the need for hospital treatment unnecessarily.
“We are painfully aware that identifying the bodies, as well as the injured, may still take a terribly long time for the families involved,” Reynard added.
Several individuals have been transported to hospitals in various Swiss cities such as Lausanne and Zurich, where there are specialized burn units.
A representative from Lausanne University Hospital stated they were caring for 22 patients with burn injuries, while Zurich University Hospital reported it was treating 12 patients for burns.
Dr. Robert Larribau informed the BBC’s World Tonight program that several patients were moved to Geneva University Hospitals for treatment of severe, “third-degree” burns and noted that they were “very young.”
“The fire broke out so intensely that burns can be internal. People breathed toxic smoke into the lungs,” Dr. Larribau said.
The president of the UK Association of Fire Investigators, Richard Hagger, described the “flashover” effect believed to have made the blaze so deadly.
“You’ll start with a fire; the flames and the thermal radiation will go to the ceiling level and mushroom out across,” he told The World Tonight.
“That thermal radiation then travels downwards onto other fuel packages, such as furniture and tables, raising the temperature to the point when they thermally decompose and produce flammable gas.
“And then that gas ignites, but it ignites at a fairly rapid rate. So the room, in effect, becomes a full room on fire within a matter of seconds.”
The BBC was informed by the Italian Foreign Ministry that 16 Italian citizens are presently unaccounted for, while between 12 and 15 others are being treated in the hospital.
The French foreign ministry announced that eight of its citizens are unaccounted for and stated it could not exclude the possibility that French nationals might be among the deceased.
French media stated that at least two of the wounded were French citizens.
Three Italians were being taken to Milan’s Niguarda hospital, which has a significant burns unit, according to Italian councillor Guido Bertolaso.
He informed reporters that they suffered burns on “30-40% of their bodies” and are still intubated, but “the fact they were able to be moved is a positive indication.”
The exact count of fatalities and injuries is still unclear, as well as their nationalities, but authorities have confirmed that multiple nationalities were affected.
During a press conference on Thursday evening, officials stated they were unsure of the number of individuals present in the bar when the fire started.
State councillor Stéphane Ganzer characterized the bar as featuring a “youthful celebratory crowd” during the New Year’s Eve celebration.
Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud stated that an inquiry is currently being conducted “to determine the conditions that led to this dramatic situation.”
Journalists at the press conference inquired if the rumors about champagne bottles with flares could have sparked the fire and if the staircases were “extremely narrow.”
She responded that she could not verify anything while the investigation is still in progress.
Ms. Pilloud noted that the staircases seemed narrow, but inspections would determine if they complied with standards.
She mentioned that “numerous hypotheses” regarding the fire’s origin have been suggested, with the preferred explanation being a “general fire that led to conflagration”—a significant fire causing extensive damage—instead of an explosion.
“At no time is there a question of any attack,” she said.
Ms. Pilloud stated that effort was ongoing to identify the victims and repatriate bodies to relatives as soon as possible, adding that “significant work” was required to accomplish this. And the district will have to be closed due to this big work.”
Gian Lorenzo Cornado, the Italian ambassador to Switzerland, said it might take weeks to identify the deceased.
