In addition to the fatal victims, authorities reported 119 injured, of which around 50 were or will be transferred to centers specializing in severe burns.
The fire that devastated a bar during New Year’s celebrations was probably caused by fireworks or flares lit inside the establishment, authorities said this Friday (2), who are working to identify the 40 dead. “Everything indicates that the fire originated from fireworks or flares placed on champagne bottles, very close to the ceiling. This caused a rapid, very rapid and widespread fire,” declared the prosecutor for the Swiss canton of Valais, Béatrice Pilloud, during a press conference.
. Dozens of publications circulate on social media with photos, descriptions of clothes and desperate appeals for any clue as to their whereabouts. The prosecutor said that large resources were mobilized “to identify the victims and return their bodies to their families as quickly as possible”, however, the canton’s police chief, Fréderic Gisler, reported that “the work could take several days”.
of which around 50 have been or will be transferred to centers specializing in severe burns in other Swiss cantons, said Mathias Reynard, president of the Valais regional government. At least 80 are in critical condition, he added.
The fire started at around 1:30 am GMT on Thursday, January 1 (9:30 pm Wednesday in Brasília), in the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, a place frequented by tourists, many of them young, who were celebrating the New Year. Authorities have not yet been able to determine how many people were in the two-story bar, one of which is underground, with capacity for at least 300 people, according to the establishment’s website.
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. .
Authorities believe there are many foreigners among the victims, but have not yet released any information about their identities. Among the injured identified are 71 Swiss, 14 French, 11 Italians, four Serbs, a Bosnian, a Belgian, a Luxembourger, a Pole and a Portuguese, the police detailed this Friday. A crisis cell was set up at the Crans-Montana convention center to welcome and guide families.
*With information from AFP
