🔗 Share this article

Those who escaped of the devastating bar fire in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are receiving treatment in specialized trauma centers in various European nations, while investigators say many of the deceased were so badly burned that naming the victims could take days or weeks.

A Tragedy of Terrifying Scale

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

“The first objective is to assign names to all the bodies,” stated local official Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a disaster of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” as he outlined the devastating toll. “Behind these figures are individuals, names, families, lives brutally cut short, forever altered or for ever changed,” Parmelin remarked at a news conference.

Challenging Task of Naming Victims

So severe were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said identification work was exceptionally difficult. Families of unaccounted-for young people issued pleas for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies worked urgently to find out if their nationals were among those caught up in one of the worst tragedies to strike modern Switzerland.

A regional leader, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said experts were using dental charts and DNA samples for the solemn duty. “All this work needs to be done because the findings is so terrible and delicate that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he said.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Even with one of the world’s most advanced medical systems, Switzerland’s regional clinics quickly reached capacity in the hours after the fire. More than 30 people were taken to hospitals with dedicated burn centers in Zurich and Lausanne and six were transferred to Geneva, as reported by news agencies.

A significant number of the injured were transported to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU said 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 took in patients, 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 a number of their citizens are missing and Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would travel to Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said approximately 40 people were killed but another nation has put the death toll at 47, based on early data.

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 media outlet.

The Italian ambassador said all but five of the injured had now been named. Several Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Some victims were repatriated on Thursday with more to follow.

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

Desperate Search for Loved Ones

Loved ones have been scrambling to find their loved ones, 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 really in shock,” Martins told reporters.

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

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

“We took many pictures [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, all possible platforms to try to find them,” she said. “But there’s no news. No response. We called the parents. No information. Even the parents haven't heard anything.”

She and a friend managed to get news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Treatment Will Be Lengthy

The director of the city’s university hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 severely injured patients, most ranging in age from 16 to 26.

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