At least 40 people have been killed and 100 injured, most seriously, after an explosion ripped through a popular bar packed with people during a New Year’s party in the ski resort, Swiss officials said today.
The fire broke out at approximately 01:30 in the morning (local time, 02:30 Greek time), in the resort of the southwest. The cause of the fire remains unknown, but authorities say it appears to be an accident.
“At the moment we are treating the incident as a fire and we are not considering the possibility of an attack,” prosecutor Beatrice Pilud said during a press conference, adding that authorities had launched a full investigation.
Some of the victims are from other countries, said Stéphane Ganzer, head of security in the canton of Valais. Canton police chief Frederic Giesler said a helpline had been set up for relatives of the victims.
“I can’t hide from you that we are all shocked by the events that unfolded last night at the Grand Prix,” Giesler said at the press conference.
“Our tally is about 100 injured, most of them in a serious condition, and unfortunately dozens of people are considered dead,” Giesler added, adding that patients were taken to hospitals in Sion, Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich.
The Italian foreign ministry said information from Swiss police put the death toll at 40, but Giesler declined to give a specific number.
Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, told Sky TG24 that local authorities told him the fire was started by someone who threw a firework inside the bar, causing the roof to catch fire.
The Italian official is in Crans-Montana, where he says Italians have gathered seeking information about missing relatives or friends. He declined to say whether there were Italian nationals among the victims.
“I saw people burning from head to toe” – Shocking testimony
The shocking moments that unfolded in the first minutes of the fire at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana are described by an eyewitness who spoke to the BBC.
It all started with a loud bang, he says, adding: “We heard a huge explosion and immediately there was thick smoke.” He immediately thought his little brother was inside and tried to break the window to help those inside.
Inside the bar, the horror was unimaginable. “I saw people burning from head to toe, without clothes. It was something that cannot be described,” he says.
“The fire started in the basement, it was caused by a candle”
Two French nationals who were at the bar told French broadcaster BFM TV that they saw the fire start in the club’s basement after someone held a bottle containing “birthday candles” too close to the wooden ceiling.
“The fire spread through the roof very quickly,” one of the women, who identified themselves as Emma and Alban, told BFM TV. As they recounted, they managed to climb a narrow staircase on the ground floor as panic prevailed and get away from the building. Minutes later, the fire had also spread to the ground floor, according to them.
At the moment it is not possible to verify their testimony from other sources, Reuters notes. In a video released and verified by Reuters, flames can be seen engulfing the building, while people are outside the club, some running and some screaming.
“Fireworks in bottles caused the fire”
According to another witness who spoke to the 24 Heures newspaper, a young man inside the bar, “fireworks devices placed in bottles ordered by customers caused a fire on the roof”, which “spread very quickly”, causing scenes of panic.
A resident of Crans-Montana told 24 Heures that he “heard helicopters all night”. “With the fireworks, we didn’t understand what was going on. Then we saw the smoke.”
Tragic account – Victims from various countries
At least two Frenchmen are among the injured, the French Foreign Ministry announced today.
“They were immediately taken care of by the rescue services,” the ministry adds in a press release, clarifying that it remains in contact “with the Swiss authorities in case there are other French nationals.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed his public support for Switzerland, with a post in which he spoke of France’s “full solidarity and fraternal support” towards the country, as well as towards “the grieving families and the injured”.
The country is in mourning – No flights over Crans Montana
Earlier, police said many people were being treated for burns and that the area had been completely cordoned off, with a no-fly zone set over Crans Montana. Authorities say 10 helicopters and 40 ambulances have been deployed to the area.
Ambulances remained parked at noon outside the bar, whose windows have been broken, according to an AFP photojournalist. The Swiss newspaper Le Temps describes “a burning smell in the atmosphere”.
Ambulances remained parked at noon outside the bar, whose windows have been broken, according to an AFP photojournalist. The Swiss newspaper Le Temps describes “a burning smell in the atmosphere”.
“What was supposed to be a moment of joy turned, on New Year’s Day in Crans-Montana, into mourning that touches the entire country and beyond,” Swiss federal president Guy Parmelain said in a post on X expressing his condolences.
Prosecutor Pilud said authorities are trying to return the victims’ bodies to their families.
“It will take time to identify the dead”
It may take weeks to identify the victims of the deadly bar fire in the Crans Montana ski resort, according to the Italian ambassador to Switzerland.
Speaking to Italian television networks from the scene of the tragedy, where he is with officials from the Italian consulate in Geneva, the ambassador stressed that the process of identifying the dead will be particularly time-consuming.
Earlier, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had pointed out that identifying the victims is extremely difficult and takes time, due to the severity of the burns they suffered.
The scenarios for the causes
For his part, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the fire may have been caused by fireworks.
“It appears that there was an accident caused by a fire, by some explosion, by some fireworks that were thrown during the New Year celebrations,” Tajani told Sky TG24.
Le Constellation bar can accommodate 300 people indoors and 40 outdoors, according to the Crans-Montana ski resort’s website. As it is housed on the ground floor of a building, it has a basement where events are organized, according to the Swiss newspaper 24 Heures.
