🔗 Share this article

Survivors of the devastating bar fire in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are receiving treatment in special burns units across Europe, while investigators report many of the deceased were so badly burned that identification could take days or weeks.

A Calamity of Unprecedented Proportions

About 40 people were killed and 115 injured when the blaze ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the packed Constellation bar and basement nightclub.

“Our primary goal is to put names to all the victims,” said local official Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, described the fire “a disaster of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” as he described the devastating toll. “Behind these figures are faces, names, families, lives tragically ended, forever altered or for ever changed,” Parmelin said at a press briefing.

Gruelling Identification Process

Such was the severity were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said identification work was particularly gruelling. Parents of unaccounted-for young people issued pleas for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies worked urgently to find out if their citizens were among those caught up in one of the worst tragedies to strike the country in recent memory.

Mathias Reynard, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said experts were using dental charts and DNA samples for the task. “All this work needs to be done because the findings is so distressing and sensitive that no detail can be told to the families unless we are completely certain,” he said.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Despite having one of the world’s most advanced medical systems, Switzerland’s local hospitals quickly became overwhelmed in the hours after the blaze. Over 30 people were taken to hospitals with dedicated burn centers in Zurich and Lausanne and six were flown to Geneva, as reported by news agencies.

Many more of the injured were flown to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU confirmed it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about offering support.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, stated online he had offered his country’s assistance as clinics in Paris and Lyon admitted victims, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had hospital beds available.

A Multinational Tragedy

Italy and France are among the countries that have said some of their nationals are missing and Italy’s diplomatic representative to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would visit Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said about 40 people were killed but another nation has put the death toll at 47, based on preliminary information.

A regional health and safety official said on Friday he was “surprised” by the latter figure. “This is not the same number that we have,” he told a radio station.

The Italian ambassador said the majority of the injured had now been named. Several Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Three Italians were returned home on Thursday with more to follow.

The French foreign ministry said several nationals were among the injured and eight others remained unaccounted for. Australia has said a citizen was injured.

Families in Anguish

Relatives and friends have been scrambling to find their missing family members, using online platforms to share images of those unaccounted for.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen living in the area for 24 years, said his son and his girlfriend just avoided being in the bar at the time of the fire. “When he came home he was deeply traumatized,” Martins told reporters.

A friend of his 17-year-old son had been evacuated for treatment in Germany with severe burns covering a third of his body, Martins added.

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a desperate hunt for friends who have been unheard from since the fire. Outside the bar, now shielded by white tarpaulins and a barrier of temporary fencing, she said she had not heard from them since New Year’s Eve.

“We took loads of photos [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, all possible platforms to try to find them,” she explained. “But there’s no news. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents don’t know.”

She and a friend later received news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Treatment Will Be Lengthy

The director of the city’s teaching hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 badly burned patients, most between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being medically stabilized and transferred to the operating theatre or to intensive care units,” she informed a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the treatment will be long and intense, lasting several weeks or even many months.”