Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, in a fire at a bar in the Swiss Alps during a new year’s celebration at a luxury ski resort.
The blaze ripped through the packed bar, Le Constellation, early on Thursday in Crans-Montana, one of the top-ranked ski destinations in Europe, which lies about 40km north-west of Zermatt near the Italian border.
Swiss police believe about 40 people died, the Italian foreign ministry said in a statement. The victims are believed to come from several countries.
Investigators said there was no indication of terrorism or arson. The victims could not be identified immediately because of the severity of their burns, the ministry added.
Work is under way 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 the Valais canton police commander, Frédéric Gisler.
“We are devastated,” Gisler said during a news conference.
What happened?
The fire raged through Le Constellation at about 1:30am (0030 GMT) as revellers in the packed bar were ringing in the new year.
“The party was in full swing … music and champagne flowing freely,” a resident told 24 heures, a Lausanne newspaper, who said they lived nearby.
Ambulances were parked outside the bar hours later and broken windows could be seen. Local media described a “smell of burning still in the air”.
A tourist from New York filmed bright orange flames pouring from the bar, and told AFP he saw people running and screaming in the dark.
“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Mathias Rénard, the head of the regional government.
How many people were hurt?
Several dozen people are believed to have died and about 100 were injured in the blaze.
The hospitals in nearby Valais were full and had declared a state of emergency, with the injured being transported to various hospitals across Switzerland.
Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims who were from several countries, officials said. The intensive care unit and operating room at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, Rénard said.
What caused it?
Investigators said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire as experts had not been able to go inside the wreckage. However, experts said was no sign of terrorism or arson.
“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” said Beatrice Pilloud, the public prosecutor of the Valais canton.
Officials called the blaze that raged through the crowded bar an “embrasement généralisé,” a firefighting term describing how a fire can trigger the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently and cause what English-speaking firefighters would call a flashover or a backdraft.
The municipality of 10,000 residents had banned New Year’s Eve fireworks due to a lack of rainfall in the past month, according to its website. But Swiss media suggested the fire may have started when pyrotechnics were used during a concert.
Agence France-Presse and AP contributed to this report.
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