The Latest:
- About 40 people are dead, and 115 others injured following a fire in Switzerland.
- Most of the injuries are serious.
- The fire took place at a party in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana.
- The cause of the fire is still unknown, but police have ruled out arson.
- There are so many injured people that the nearby intensive care unit and operating theatre at the regional hospital hit full capacity.
- Global Affairs Canada says it’s not aware of any Canadians impacted.
About 40 people are dead and 115 others injured, most of them seriously, after a fire tore through a crowded bar during a New Year’s Eve party in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, officials told reporters during a news conference on Thursday.
Authorities did not immediately have an exact count of the deceased.
The cause of the blaze, which was initially reported as an explosion, remains unclear, but authorities said it appeared to be an accident rather than an attack.
“There were people screaming, and then people lying on the ground, probably dead,” said Samuel Rapp, 21, who saw the aftermath of the fire. “They had jackets over their faces — well, that’s what I saw, nothing more.”
Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families but “that will take time, and for the time being it is premature to give you a more precise figure,” said Valais canton police commander Frédéric Gisler during an earlier news conference.
Victims couldn’t be immediately identified due to the severity of their burns, officials said earlier.
Police had earlier said many people were being treated for burns. Valais hospital intensive care unit was full, and patients were being transferred elsewhere, said Mathias Reynard, head of the cantonal government.
The affected community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometres north of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous Alpine peaks, and 130 kilometres south of Zurich.
Some of the victims are from other countries, said Stéphane Ganzer, head of security for the Valais canton. Authorities said 10 helicopters and 40 ambulances had been mobilized.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed 16 Italians have been reported missing and about a dozen more are being treated for injuries.
The fire broke out at 1:30 a.m. local time in a bar popular among teenagers called Le Constellation in Crans-Montana, where police, the fire brigade and rescue services were deployed to help victims.
Dominic Dubois was on his way to a bar with a friend when he saw the blaze.
“You could see the orange. The orange, yellow, red,” Dubois said, adding there were “many, many gory scenes.”
He told Reuters multiple people outside of the bar were helping pull bodies to safety, while nearby businesses opened to provide support.
“The main problem was the temperature shock from the heat inside to the cold outside. So, one of the priorities was to get everyone warm,” Dubois said. “I’m talking the curtains of the restaurant were used.”
Dubois also noted how brave many of the victims were while the tragedy was unfolding.
“There were many who were very strong, who stayed strong and who understood that their life was in grave danger, but decided that mentally it was more important to stay calm,” he said.
Cause still unknown
On Thursday morning, hours after the fire, footage from the street outside showed the area cordoned off, with forensic tents behind white screens set up in front of the bar. It was a stark contrast to the panic and confusion that officials said faced first responders who arrived when the alarm was raised.
“The first responders — the firefighters and police officers — arrived at a scene of chaos, at a dramatic scene, in a complicated operations theater,” Ganzer told reporters.
The area has been completely closed off, and a no-fly zone has been imposed over Crans-Montana, which is due to host next year’s Alpine World Ski Championships, police said earlier in a statement.
Dominic Dubois spoke to a Reuters journalist about the aftermath of a deadly fire in the Swiss resort town of Crans-Montana. Officials have not yet confirmed the cause of the fire, which ripped through a bar during New Year’s Eve celebrations, but have said it does not appear to be an attack.
Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, told Sky TG24 that local authorities told him the blaze was started by someone letting off a firework inside the bar which set fire to the ceiling.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that they were inside when they saw a barman carrying a barmaid on his shoulders. The barmaid was holding a lit candle in a bottle that set fire to the wooden ceiling. The flames quickly spread and collapsed the ceiling, they told the broadcaster.
Witnesses describe aftermath
One of the women described a crowd surge as people frantically tried to escape from a basement nightclub up a narrow flight of stairs and through a narrow door.
It was not immediately possible to verify their account from other sources. Video footage, verified by Reuters, showed fire spreading from the building with people outside the club, some running and screaming.
Another witness speaking to BFMTV described people smashing windows to escape the blaze, some gravely injured, and panicked parents rushing to the scene in cars to see whether their children were trapped inside. The young man said he saw about 20 people scrambling to get out of the smoke and flames and likened what he saw to a horror movie as he watched from across the street.
Officials described how the blaze likely triggered the release of combustible gases that ignited violently and caused what English-speaking firefighters call a flashover or backdraft.
“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Mathias Rénard, head of the regional government.
Swiss officials, including police representatives and the president, spoke Thursday after a deadly fire overnight at a bar in a resort community left around 40 reported dead, with many more severely injured.
The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, Rénard said.
In a statement Thursday, Global Affairs Canada said it is not aware of any Canadian citizens impacted by the incident.
Prime Minister Mark Carney called the fire a “devastating tragedy” and said his thoughts are “with those who lost their lives or were injured, their loved ones, first responders, and the entire community as they support one another through this unimaginable loss.”
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