Swiss authorities on Thursday around 40 people have died and more than 115 others have been injured, many seriously, in a massive fire at the Le Constellation bar in the luxury ski resort of Crans-Montana in the canton of Valais during New Year’s Eve celebrations, authorities said.
Frederic Geisler, the police chief of the canton of Valais, described the incident as an “unprecedented tragedy” and warned that the death toll could rise given the critical condition of many of the injured; he stressed at a press conference that the current priority was to identify the bodies and inform the families.
Many of the victims were young and included Swiss citizens and foreign tourists from neighboring countries such as Italy and France. The fire started at around 1:30 a.m. on January 1 and quickly spread to the downstairs bar, which was packed with partygoers.
The investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing, but authorities have stated that the possibility of a deliberate explosion has been ruled out and there are no signs of a terrorist attack; Béatrice Pillaud, the chief magistrate of the Canton of Valais, stressed that there is no question of an attack at any stage and that the main hypothesis is that the fire was accidental.
Switzerland has declared five days of national mourning and flags will be flown at half-mast; hospitals in the region are full and some of the injured have been transferred to neighboring countries
