With him remaining unclear, as well as the cause, almost 24 hours after the young people – among them minors – patrons of a , in Crans-Montana in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, a vigil is held outside the police fence of the place of the tragedy, while questions arise about the security measures of the shop.
According to the testimonies of survivors, the emergency exits were extremely limited, while the only staircase leading from the underground space to the outside was very narrow. The interior of “Le Constellation”, which had a ground floor and a basement, was lined almost entirely with wood, which contributed to the rapid spread of the fire within seconds. After all, a photo circulating on social media is indicative and it is estimated to be seconds before the fiery destruction broke out.
🔴🇨🇭 FLASH NEWS – A photo shows the start of the fire on noise-reducing foam in the Crans-Montana bar. ()
— Media Express (@media_express_e)
Panic when the deadly fire broke out was widespread, with dozens of people trapped and others trying to carry injured people out of the burning building.
“Ages started at 15”
At the same time, the testimony of a Greek visitor to the area is shocking. “Every year, there is an event organized by the municipality. Which is a big party, with a dj set already with people playing music. The situation was a bit, how can I say, extreme. In the sense that there were too many people. We are now talking about thousands of people, of many nationalities. Mainly young Italians, French and German speakers. The ages started from 15 I would say. Farewells, which were started by the event team, were at one past eight and after one past ten, people started going to different locations and filling up the different bars. Someone flew, just as the event ended and people started to leave. He threw a sparkler in front of the platform where the event was taking place,” Kelly Diolatzi described to STAR.
“The particular shop where the explosion took place probably had 200 people inside. It was, so to speak, a local bar which was famous for parties and of course a number one choice after the main event, for the kids to go there,” he said. “After we saw that sparkler situation, which was a little weird to tell you the truth, it’s not that I was scared at the time, but I thought to myself, ‘okay, now they’re drunk.’ We saw people running, ambulances, sirens, helicopters, rescuers. Everything,” he said.
“I know that they have closed the area, only the police come in and out of the area, they are shocked and saddened,” Eleftheria Markogiannakis, president of the Greek community of Bern, told ANT1.
