Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will travel to Crans-Montana and said 15 Italians were injured and a similar number remained missing.
A 16-year-old Italian golfer was the first victim of the fire in a bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, in the Swiss Alps, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, 1st. He was identified this Friday, 2, according to Reuters. The tragedy left at least 40 dead and more than 100 injured – many in serious condition.
The Italian Golf Federation mourned the passing of Emanuele Galeppini: “a young athlete who carried with him genuine passion and values,” the federation said in a statement.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will travel to Crans-Montana and said 15 Italians were injured and a similar number remained missing.
Authorities believe there are many foreigners among the victims. The injured were taken to various hospitals in Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich, and even to neighboring France and Italy. Nine French people are among the injured and eight have not yet been located, according to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Possible causes
Pyrotechnic candles positioned in champagne bottles would have touched the ceiling and caused the fire, according to witness reports. They described horror scenes, with people trying to break windows to escape, while others, covered in burns, ran into the street.
Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general for the canton of Valais, said it was premature to determine the cause of the fire, but added that investigators had ruled out the possibility of an attack.
“As of now, we don’t have any suspects,” she added, when asked if anyone had been arrested in connection with the fire. “An investigation has been opened, not against anyone, but to better understand the circumstances of this dramatic fire”
The police commander of the canton of Valais, Frédéric Gisler, told a press conference that work was being done to identify the dead and inform their families, adding that the community was “devastated”.
“We have countless reports of heroic acts, you could say, of strong solidarity at that moment,” Mathias Reynard, head of the Valais regional government, told RTS radio on Friday.
He praised the work of the emergency services the day after the fire, but added: “In the first few minutes, it was citizens – and largely young people – who saved lives with their courage.”
Despite the fire, the walls of the buildings adjacent to the bar showed no marks this Friday, 2nd. Even the bar’s sign appeared intact, as did the wooden structure of the balcony, a sign that the fire was mainly concentrated underground.
Terrifying
A video posted on social media shows the start of the fire on the ceiling, with a young man trying to put out the fire with a large white cloth. Beside him, other young people film the scene, but continue dancing.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who took office on Thursday, called the incident “a calamity of unprecedented and terrifying proportions.” He announced that flags will remain flown at half-mast for five days
A crisis office was set up at the Crans-Montana convention center to welcome and guide families.
Some sources told AFP on Thursday that the owners of the bar are French nationals, a couple from Corsica. According to a relative, they were unharmed, but it was not possible to locate the couple.
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