A fire in a bar in the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana in the early hours of New Year’s Day has left about 40 people dead and 115 injured, many of them seriously, according to a Police statement. Swiss federal and cantonal authorities described the blaze as one of the worst tragedies the country has known.
The alarm was raised shortly after 1.30am, when smoke was reported and emergency services were contacted. Police patrols arrived within minutes, followed by firefighters and medical teams. By dawn all the injured had been taken into care. A helpline (0848 112 117) was opened at 4.14am. Around 140 emergency workers, 13 helicopters and 42 ambulances—half of them from neighbouring Vaud—were deployed.
Guy Parmelin, Switzerland’s president, called the incident an unprecedented tragedy and expressed the federal government’s solidarity with the victims and their families. Some people are still fighting for their lives, he said, adding that every available medical resource had been mobilised. Mathias Reynard, president of the Valais cantonal government, paid tribute to the rescuers and to the immediate acts of solidarity shown by bystanders.
The police commander, Frédéric Gisler, said that identifying the dead would be a priority in the coming days so that the remains could be returned to their families. Formal identification is expected to take time.
Questions over the bar’s safety
The fire broke out in Le Constellation, a bar with a basement level. Several witnesses told local media they had not seen an emergency exit on the lower floor. Prosecutors said it was too early to comment on whether safety standards had been met. According to preliminary information, an exit did exist on the lower level; investigators will determine whether it was compliant and clearly marked.
Béatrice Pilloud, the Valais attorney-general, said investigators had collected numerous witness statements and recovered mobile phones to reconstruct events. The current working hypothesis is that a rapid, generalised blaze led to several explosions. No arrests have been made.
Authorities also warned against rumours and misleading material circulating on social media and urged the public to show restraint while the investigation is under way.
Nationalities of the victims
Officials have not yet confirmed the nationalities of those killed or injured. Mr Gisler declined to comment while identification work continues, though both Italian and French nationals are believed to be among the victims. In Italy, the foreign minister said that at least 15 Italian citizens had been injured and about 16 were missing. A provisional list published in Italian media suggests that several of the dead were 16 years old. Local social-media appeals indicate that residents of Valais may also be among the victims.
Witness accounts
Reports circulating before the authorities’ press conference suggested that the fire may have been triggered by festive bottle sparklers. Romain Carrupt, a correspondent for RTS in Valais, said some witnesses believed such devices may have ignited the bar. These flames may have triggered a rapidly spreading fire known as a flashover fire.
Two 16-year-old French attendees told BFM TV that the blaze spread within seconds. They said it may have been triggered by sparkler-type bottle fireworks, known as fountain sparklers, used inside the venue.
Fountain sparklers are fairly common in nightclubs with a bottle-service culture, particularly in tourist and ski resorts in parts of southern and eastern Europe.
Investigators have not yet confirmed the cause. The attorney-general said she could neither confirm nor dismiss the hypothesis that pyrotechnic bottle sparklers were responsible for the blaze in the basement. Although an attack has been ruled out.
The authorities emphasise that the central task now is to identify the dead, care for the injured and clarify how a night of celebration turned into disaster.
More on this:
Valais police statement (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
Information from the canton of Valais (in French)
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