CRANNS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — A fire broke out at a bar during a New Year's Eve celebration. Swiss Alpine resort less than two hours after midnight on Thursday, with dozens of people feared dead and about 100 more seriously injured, police said.
The resort of Crans-Montana is best known as an international skiing and golf destination, and overnight its crowded bar, Le Constellation, went from a place of fun to the site of potentially one of Switzerland's worst tragedies.
Presumably, “several dozen people” were killed in the bar. Valais Canton This was stated by police commander Frederick Giesler at a press conference.
Work is underway to identify victims and inform their families, but “it will take time and at this point it is premature to give you a more precise number,” Giesler said, adding that the community is “devastated.”
Beatrice Pilloux, the prosecutor general of the canton of Valais, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.
“At no point is there any question of any attack,” Pillud said.
A festive evening turned into a tragedy
Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to treat victims, including those from various countries, officials said.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that they were inside when they saw the bartender carrying the barmaid on his shoulders. The barmaid held a lit candle in a bottle, which set the wooden ceiling on fire. The flames quickly spread and collapsed the ceiling, they told the television station.
One of the women described the influx of crowds as people desperately tried to escape from the basement nightclub, up the narrow stairs and through the narrow door.
Another witness who spoke to BFMTV described how people broke windows to escape the fire, some seriously injured, and panicked parents rushing to the scene in cars to check if their children were trapped inside. The young man said he saw about 20 people trying to get out of the smoke and flames and compared what he saw to a horror movie he was watching from across the street.
Officials described how the fire likely released flammable gases that ignited violently and caused what English-speaking firefighters call a flashover or backdraft.
“This evening was supposed to be a moment of celebration and unity, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Matthias Reynard, head of the regional government of the canton of Valais.
According to Reynard, there were so many wounded that the intensive care unit and operating room at the regional hospital quickly reached full capacity.
Crans-Montana is less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Sierra, Switzerland. where there are 28 people, Including many children, they died when a bus from Belgium crashed in a Swiss tunnel in 2012.
The resort town is located in the heart of the Alps.
In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, authorities urged the local population to exercise caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could strain medical resources that are already stretched.
With high-altitude ski runs of nearly 3,000 meters (nearly 9,850 feet) in the heart of the snow-capped peaks and pine forests of the Valais region, Crans-Montana is one of the best locations on the World Cup circuit. The resort will host top men's and women's downhill racers, including Lindsey Vonnfor their final competitions before the Cortina Olympics in Milan in February. The city's golf club Crans-sur-Sierre hosts the European Masters every August on its picturesque course.
Swiss flame Thursday marked 25 years since the New Year's Eve inferno in the Dutch fishing town of Volendam, which killed 14 people and injured more than 200 during a café celebration.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin said in a social media post that the government's “thoughts go out to the victims, the wounded and their relatives, to whom it expresses its sincere condolences.”
Thursday marked Parmelin's first day in office as seven members of the Swiss government rotate to serve as president for one year. Out of respect for the families of the victims, he postponed the traditional New Year's address to the nation, which was due to air on Thursday afternoon, Swiss broadcasters SRF and RTS said.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates as more information becomes available.
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