Swiss authorities are investigating the cause of a deadly fire that tore through a New Year’s celebration at the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people. France said nine of its citizens were among the 115 injured, with a further eight reported missing.
The fire broke out at around 1:30am local time Thursday at Le Constellation, a bar popular with young tourists.
About 40 people were killed and around 115 others injured, as many as 80 seriously.
Authorities declined to speculate on the cause, saying only that it was not an attack.
Swiss police warned it could take days or even weeks to identify everyone who died.
The bar, on the ground floor of a residential building, has a capacity of 300. Police said the exact number of people inside when the fire broke out remains unclear and did not specify how many people are still missing.
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French assistance
Switzerland's President Guy Parmelin, who took over on Thursday, called the fire "a calamity of unprecedented, terrifying proportions", and announced that flags would be flown at half mast for five days.
“Behind these figures are faces, names, families, lives brutally cut short, completely interrupted, or forever changed,” Parmelin said at a press conference.
“Given the international nature of the Crans resort, we can expect foreign nationals to be among the victims,” local police commander Frederic Gisler said.
The French foreign ministry – the Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères (Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs) – said nine French citizens were among the injured and eight others remained unaccounted for.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Parmelin on Thursday to offer assistance.
France is preparing to take in eight more of the injured. "We have reserved 15 adult beds and four paediatric beds in French hospitals, so the capacity is there," the foreign ministry told FranceInfo public media.
This is in addition to the three injured people who were transferred to French hospitals in Lyon and Paris on Thursday.
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Ongoing investigation
Swiss police have yet to establish what caused the blaze.
Several witness accounts broadcast by Swiss, French and Italian media pointed to sparklers mounted on champagne bottles and held aloft by staff as part of a regular show for customers who made special orders.
“There were waitresses with champagne bottles and little sparklers. They got too close to the ceiling, and suddenly it all caught fire,” Axel, a witness, told Italian outlet Local Team.
The canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said investigators would examine whether the bar met safety standards and had the required number of exits.
Multiple sources told France's AFP news agency that the bar owners are French nationals: a couple originally from Corsica who, according to a relative, are safe, but have been unreachable since the tragedy.
(with newswires)
