Switzerland holds 5 days for mourning after 'unprecedented' ski resort fire kills 47

Following the tragic blast at a New Year’s Eve party at a bar in Switzerland that killed 40, the European nation is holding five days of mourning to honour the victims. The ‘unprecedented’ fire tore through a New Year’s Eve party in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana that also wounded 115 people.

Switzerland’s President Guy Parmelin described the incident as one of the most traumatic events in the country’s history. “It was a drama of an unknown scale,” he said, paying tribute to the many “young lives that were lost and interrupted”. Switzerland owed it to those young people, who had their “projects, hopes and dreams” cut short, to ensure such a tragedy never happened again, added the president.

Eyewitnesses soon told local reporters that the fire broke out at around 1:30 am (local time) in the town’s Le Constellation bar after sparklers or flares were put into champagne bottles. Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that a bartender carried a female staff member who was holding one of the bottles.

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The flames eventually set fire to the ceiling, and within seconds the blaze spread, engulfing a crowded basement packed with revellers. Many of the victims of the tragic incident were teenagers. One of the women told the French outlet that the crowd surged as people desperately tried to escape up a narrow staircase.

On New Year’s Day, hundreds gathered in silence in the cold to lay flowers and light candles in honour of the victims of the incident. Many at the nighttime vigil knew people who remained unaccounted for or were badly injured.

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Investigation underway

Multiple videos circulating online showed the blaze taking hold immediately above the bar. Some also showed grim scenes of orange flames billowing from a ground-floor lounge and several people lying motionless on the street.

Meanwhile, the canton prosecutor for Valais, Beatrice Pilloud, said she could not comment on reports that lighted candles had caused the inferno. “An investigation is taking place. It will identify the exact circumstances of what happened,” she said, confirming that the basement steps were very narrow. She maintained that it was too early to draw any conclusions about emergency exits.

Frédéric Gisler, the canton’s police commander, said his officers arrived at the scene at 1.32 am (local time), just two minutes after they received an emergency call. While speaking to the reporters, he described the situation as “unprecedented". A red alert was issued, with multiple firefighting teams, 42 ambulances and 13 helicopters sent to the area.

“Their first mission was to provide care to the victims … and direct them to the various hospitals. The firefighters at the same time secured the site,” he said. The injured were then dispatched to hospitals in Sion, Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich. Parmelin – speaking on his first day in the job as Switzerland’s new head of state – said some of those who survived were “severely injured”.

The hard task

Apart from investigating what went down at the bar, the investigators now also have the grisly task of identifying the victims and taking DNA samples from their families. Some of those caught up in the fire were visiting the ski resort from neighbouring countries.

Shortly after the news started to circulate, Italy’s Foreign Ministry said that 16 of its nationals were missing and 12 were among the injured. Meanwhile, France said that eight of its citizens were missing and it could not rule out that French nationals were among the dead.

Le Constellation opened in 2015 and could accommodate up to 300 people inside, with another 40 on a heated terrace, BFMTV reported. The bar’s Facebook and Instagram pages appear to have been deleted and are unavailable. Locals said that the venue was a popular destination for younger people, including the children, who would often drink there from as young as 14 years old.