Tragic Fire at Swiss Ski Resort's New Year Celebration Claims Nearly 40 Lives

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Around 40 people were killed and over 100 injured, including one Australian, when a fire ripped through a crowded bar in the luxury Swiss ski resort town of Crans-Montana as young revellers rang in the New Year.

Horrified bystanders described “panic” as people tried to break through the windows of the bar to escape, and others, covered in burns, poured into the street.

Police, firefighters and rescuers rushed to the popular resort, which is set to host the Ski World Cup from 30 January, after the fire broke out in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Frederic Gisler, police commander in the Wallis canton in south-western Switzerland, told reporters authorities had counted “around 40 people who have died and around 115 injured, most of them seriously”.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told SBS News the department was providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who was injured and receiving medical care following the fire.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is urgently reaching out to local authorities to ascertain if any other Australians were affected. We are prepared to offer consular support,” a spokesperson stated.

Officials have reported that the fire has claimed approximately 40 lives. Source: AFP / Maxime Schmid

Two young French women, Emma and Albane, told French broadcaster BFMTV they had escaped the “panic” in the bar shortly after the fire broke out.

They said “birthday candles” placed on champagne bottles had got too close to the ceiling.

Newly appointed Swiss President Guy Parmelin addressed the media, describing the blaze as “one of the most devastating tragedies our nation has endured.”

“Amidst the chaos, people were seen running through the flames, some even using chairs in desperate attempts to smash the windows,” Parmelin added.

A tourist from New York, who filmed bright orange flames pouring from the bar, told Agence France-Presse he saw people running and screaming.

Authorities said they were still investigating the causes of the fire, which erupted shortly before 1:30am local time, but said they did not believe it had been caused by an “attack”.

The emergency unit at the main hospital in the Wallis was full, with the injured being transported to various hospitals across Switzerland.

Men in winter clothing walking on a street.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin (centre) said the fire was “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced”. Source: AFP / Alessandro Della Valle

More than a dozen victims had been transported to the Zurich University Hospital in northern Switzerland, while at least 22 people suffering from serious burns had been taken to the main hospital in Lausanne, and six had been taken to Geneva, Switzerland’s Keystone-ATS news agency reported.

The European Union said it has been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.

Victims come from several countries

Swiss authorities said investigations were underway to identify the victims, but acknowledged that given Crans-Montana’s popularity with tourists around the world, they expected a number of foreign nationals to be among the dead.

Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani told Italian broadcaster Rete4 around 15 Italians had been injured in the fire, and a similar number remained missing.

At least two French citizens were among the injured, according to initial reports from the French foreign ministry.

Le Constellation has a capacity of 300 people, plus an additional 40 on its terrace, according to the Crans-Montana website.

A police officer stands near the entrance of a building.

Police are still investigating the cause of the fire at Le Constellation bar. Source: AFP / Maxime Schmid

The bar is owned by a French couple, according to a local business registry and friends of the owners.

Ambulances were still parked outside the bar hours later, and broken windows could be seen.

Wallis’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said significant resources were being mobilised “to identify the victims and return their bodies as quickly as possible to the families”.

Authorities face arduous task of identifying victims

Investigators on Friday set about the painful task of identifying the burned bodies of the blaze.

So severe were the burns suffered by the mostly young crowd of revellers in the Le Constellation bar that Swiss officials said it could take days before they name all the victims of the fire that also injured 115, many of them seriously.

Parents of missing youths anxiously issued pleas for news of their loved ones as foreign embassies scrambled to work out if their nationals were among those caught up in one of the worst tragedies to befall modern Switzerland.

“The first objective is to assign names to all the bodies,” Crans-Montana’s mayor, Nicolas Feraud, told a press conference. This, he said, could take days.

Mathias Reynard, head of government of the canton of Valais, said experts were using dental and DNA samples to carry out the task.

“All this work needs to be done because the information is so terrible and sensitive that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100 per cent sure.”