At least 47 people are believed to have died and 115 are injured, dozens severely, following the New Year’s blaze at a bar in a Swiss ski resort — as the local police commander confirmed that many of the victims are expected to be foreign nationals.
“We can expect victims of foreign nationalities,” local police chief Frederic Gisler said at a press conference as he gave the preliminary death toll from Thursday morning’s fire.
Italy’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, said that the confirmed death toll was 47, after being in regular contact with Swiss authorities all day.
Many of the victims are teenagers; the youngest victim is 16-year-old who is being treated in a hospital, according to French outlet, RTS.
Three disaster trucks, 13 helicopters, 42 ambulances and 150 emergency responders were rushed to the scene of the blaze at “Le Constellation” bar shortly after 1:30 a.m. local time.Patients were airlifted to hospitals across Switzerland, as well as in neighboring countries.
“This was one of the worst tragedies our country has experienced,” Swiss President Guy Parmelin told the Thursday press conference in the wake of the fire which ripped through the packed bar in the upscale resort town of Crans-Montana.
Flags in Switzerland will fly at half-staff for five days, Parmelin confirmed, after he delayed his scheduled New Year’s Day message to the country in the wake of the disaster.
None of the dead have yet been publicly identified, although police are analyzing cell phones left behind at the scene as they investigate the cause of the blaze.
“The current leading theory is that a widespread fire caused an explosion,” regional prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud told the news conference.
The area around the bar will remain closed during the police investigation, Gisler confirmed.
The fire is believed to have been started by sparklers attached to champagne bottles being carried by staff inside the packed venue.
Video from the same club in May 2024 shows glamorous waitresses carrying champagne sparklers through the bar.
“Dozens of pyrotechnic devices in bottles” could be seen lining tables in the basement of the bar, which had a capacity of around 300 people, a local police spokesperson said.
The fire triggered a flashover, where all the combustible materials in an enclosed space reach their ignition temperatures at the same time, causing an explosion.
In addition, the fire led to a panicked stampede as attendees rushed down the one exit staircase to try and reach safety.
Authorities are investigating whether the staircase was wide enough to meet safety standards, Pilloud said.
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