On the night of New Year’s Eve, a devastating fire and explosion caused burns and other injuries to around a hundred others in a crowded bar in the Crans-Montana ski resort in southwestern Switzerland.
According to available information, the fire broke out in the Le Constellation bar, which was crowded and the New Year’s celebrations quickly turned into an inferno around 1.30am.
The exact number of victims and injured is still unknown. The flames were so strong that they apparently burned some of the bodies. The police commander in the canton of Valais, Frédéric Gisler, assumes that dozens of people died on the spot. However, none of the competent people dare to say the exact number.
Identification of the victims and contacting their relatives is ongoing.
Burning sparklers on bottles
Two witnesses told French television that the fire started when the bartender lifted a waitress on her shoulders, who was holding champagne bottles decorated with burning sparklers. The wooden ceiling got caught by them by accident.
“Sparks were only a few centimeters from the ceiling when a waitress balanced on the bartender’s shoulders,” said one of the witnesses. “When the ceiling was engulfed in flames, the entire nightclub caught fire in approximately ten seconds,” he further described his impressions of the situation.
According to witnesses, the crowd in the bar panicked and people tried to escape from the basement where the nightclub was located, up a narrow staircase and through a narrow door. “We all ran in panic, and when we looked back, there were flames everywhere,” BFMTV quoted a witness as saying.
Another witness described to French television how panicked people smashed windows to escape, with some seriously injured. As the party was reportedly for people under 17 years old, some parents went to the place to see if their children were stuck inside.
The investigation continues
According to the prosecutor of the canton of Valais, Beatrice Pilloud, it is still too early to determine the cause of the fire. The authorities have already ruled out any terrorist attack or deliberate arson.
The number of injured quickly filled the intensive care unit of a hospital in Valais. The wounded with burns were transported to Lausanne, Zurich and Geneva. Hospitals in neighboring countries have offered to hospitalize some of the injured with burns.
The scope of the rescue work documents the enormous deployment of technology. They sent 10 helicopters, 40 ambulances and 150 members of the rescue services to the scene of the accident.
It was temporarily forbidden to fly over the resort of Crans-Montana. An emergency telephone line was set up for the relatives of the victims and the injured.
According to the Swiss authorities, foreigners are also among the victims. It is not yet known whether there is a Slovak among them.
About the bar owners
Bar Le Constellation belongs to a French couple. He has lived in the Swiss canton of Valais for almost a decade. According to the findings of the French media, the owner was in the bar at the time of the fire and suffered burns on her hand. Her partner was in another of the businesses. They own three in Switzerland. Both are “in shock” after what happened.
