Swiss investigators are rushing to identify the victims of the New Year’s Eve fire that engulfed a crowded bar in the Crans-Montana alpine ski resort in the canton of Valais, killing 40 people and injuring 115.
Swiss President Guy Parmelen announced that his country will mark the tragedy with five days of mourning and described the fire as one of the most traumatic events in Swiss history, the Guardian newspaper reported.
“It was a drama of hitherto unknown proportions,” he said, paying tribute to “the young lives that were lost and cut short.”
“Switzerland owes it to those young people whose plans, hopes and dreams were cut short to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again,” the president added.
The fire broke out at 1:30 a.m. on Thursday at the Constellation bar (Le Constellation) in Crans-Montana, but it is not yet clear what caused it. Some eyewitnesses said the fire started when torches or sprinklers were placed in champagne bottles. Two women told French television that the bartender was carrying a female member of staff who was holding a birthday candle on a bottle of champagne near the ceiling.
Eyewitnesses said that the flames ignited the roof and that within a few seconds the flames spread and engulfed the crowded basement room filled with people celebrating the New Year. Many were teenagers. One of the injured described a great commotion in which people desperately tried to escape up the narrow stairs.
Swiss police have warned that it could be days or even weeks until all those who died in the disaster are identified. The exact number of people who were in the bar at the time of the fire is not clear, and the police have not yet announced how many people are still missing.
The chief prosecutor of the canton, Beatrice Pilu, said that considerable resources were used to identify the victims and return their bodies to their families as soon as possible.
It will also be examined whether the bar met safety standards and whether it had an inappropriate number of exits.
Swiss President Parmelen said that some of the survivors were seriously injured, suffering severe burns and lung damage.
The injured were sent to hospitals in Sion, Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich, and many others were transported to neighboring countries.
Some of those who were in the fire were visitors to the ski resort from neighboring countries.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 16 Italian citizens are missing and that 12 Italian citizens are among the injured. France has confirmed that eight of its nationals are missing and that it cannot rule out the possibility that there are Frenchmen among the dead. One Australian is among the injured.
(TYPE/Source: Beta/Photo: X/Fena)
