Police officers walk at the site of the fire at a bar in Crans-Montana on Thursday.MAXIME SCHMID/AFP/Getty Images
Around 40 people were killed and 115 injured when a fire ripped through a crowded bar during a New Year’s Eve party in the upscale Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, officials said on Thursday.
Police said the fire broke out at 1:30 a.m. as revelers were celebrating in a bar called Le Constellation in the resort in southwestern Switzerland, which locals said was popular with teenagers.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin described the disaster as “one of the worst tragedies our country has ever known” and said most of the dead were young people.
The cause of the blaze remained unclear but authorities said the fire appeared to be an accident rather than an attack.
Authorities warned that naming the victims or establishing a definitive death toll would take time because many of the bodies were badly burned. Experts were using dental and DNA records to try to identify the dead.
Young golfer identified as victim
Emanuele Galeppini, a 16-year-old Italian international golfer who lived in Dubai, was named on Friday as the first of several possible victims from Italy to be identified.
“The Italian Golf Federation mourns the passing of Emanuele Galeppini, a young athlete who carried with him passion and genuine values,” the federation said in a statement.
Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland said earlier that six Italians were missing and 13 were in hospital receiving treatment for their injuries.
Galeppini had been in Crans-Montana with his family. Italian media reported that he had gone to the Constellation bar with two friends, who managed to escape the fire and were taken to nearby hospitals.
Scenes of panic
Video footage verified by Reuters showed fire spreading from the building, and witnesses described scenes of panic and confusion as people rushed to get out.
“There were people screaming, and then people lying on the ground, probably dead,” said 21-year-old Samuel Rapp, who saw the aftermath of the fire. “They had jackets over their faces.”
The head of the local canton’s police, Frederic Gisler, said around 40 people were presumed to be dead and 115 were injured, most of them seriously. He said it was too early to give details on the identity of the dead and injured.
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Two young French women who said they were in the bar told France’s BFM TV that they saw the fire start in the basement section of the club after a bottle containing “birthday candles” was held up too close to the wooden ceiling.
“The fire spread across the ceiling super quickly,” one of the two women, who identified themselves as Emma and Albane, told BFM TV. The pair said they were able to climb a narrow staircase to the ground floor and escape the building. Minutes later, the fire had reached the ground floor, too, they said.
BFM showed video of a waitress carrying a champagne bottle with a lit “fountain candle” through the bar, one of many in Crans-Montana, a fashionable ski centre with an array of boutiques, luxury hotels and restaurants. But the footage did not show the fire breaking out.
Local prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said an investigation had been opened into the blaze at the bar, which Swiss company records showed was owned by a French couple, but she said it was too early to comment on any possible safety failures.
“There are still many circumstances to be clarified … The most likely scenario at present is that a widespread fire caused an explosion,” she told a press conference.
Rescuers are seen at the site.MAXIME SCHMID/AFP/Getty Images
Victims come from several countries
Witnesses said many of those celebrating in the bar appeared to be from different countries. Foreign governments were calling around to establish whether their nationals were among the victims but were facing a lengthy process because the severity of the burns had rendered identification challenging, one European official said.
“We met the families this afternoon and it’s terrible because to be in front of them with all their fear and apprehension and terrible anxiety and we don’t have all the answers. And we won’t have them straight away because identifying them will take time. It’s a terrible situation on the ground. Unimaginable,” Mathias Reynard, president of the Valais cantonal government, told Reuters, his voice breaking.
In a post on X, Prime Minister Mark Carney called the fire a devastating tragedy.
“My 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,” he said.
Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Samantha Lafleur confirmed in a statement that the department is not aware of any Canadian citizens affected by the incident.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said on social media that consular officials are ready to provide assistance to any Canadians affected, and that they are in close contact with the Swiss authorities as they work to identify the victims.
“Canada stands with Switzerland during this devastating time,” she said.
Journalists gather at a police cordon as they report on the fire.MAXIME SCHMID/AFP/Getty Images
Eight French people were missing, the French Foreign Ministry said, adding that it could not rule out that French nationals were among the dead.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to his Swiss counterpart to offer assistance. Three survivors of the fire have been moved to French hospitals and further transfers were under way, the ministry added.
Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, told Sky TG24 that local authorities had told him the fire was started by someone letting off a firework inside the bar.
Witnesses described injured being treated in improvised triage centres set up in a nearby bar and in a branch of UBS bank and said many suffered after coming out of the heat of the bar into the freezing night air.
“And then it was just ambulances coming back and forth as much as possible,” said Dominic Dubois, who witnessed the frantic scenes as the bodies were brought out.
Flowers and candles were laid on the ground Thursday near Le Constellation, as the country mourns the deaths of dozens of people.MAXIME SCHMID/AFP/Getty Images
Video footage showed lines of ambulances queuing and helicopters landing to take victims to nearby hospitals and specialist burn units in other Swiss cities, including Lausanne and Zurich. Switzerland’s neighbours, France, Germany and Italy, also offered to treat victims in their own centres.
On Thursday morning, footage from the street outside showed the area cordoned off, with forensic tents behind white screens set up in front of the bar.
Hundreds of people paid their respects to the victims at the top of the road in front of the scene on Thursday evening. Dozens left flowers or lit candles on a makeshift altar in front of the police cordon as a large crowd stood in silence in the frosty night.
Crans-Montana is due to host next year’s Alpine World Ski Championships. Swiss officials said the fire, which came less than a year after a fire in a club in North Macedonia killed 59 people, was unprecedented in Switzerland.
“What was meant to be a moment of joy turned, on the first day of the year in Crans-Montana, into mourning that touches the entire country and far beyond,” Mr. Parmelin said on the social media platform X.
People hug near the site of the fire.Denis Balibouse/Reuters
With a report from Emily Haws