Survivors of the devastating nightclub blaze in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in specialized trauma centers across Europe, while authorities say many of the deceased were so badly burned that naming the victims could take an extended period.
About 40 people were lost their lives and 115 injured when the blaze engulfed a New Year’s Eve celebration in the packed Constellation bar and basement nightclub.
“The first objective is to put names to all the bodies,” stated Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Féraud.
The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a calamity of unparalleled, terrifying proportions” as he outlined the devastating toll. “Beyond these numbers are individuals, names, families, lives brutally cut short, forever altered or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin said at a press briefing.
Such was the severity were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said identification work was exceptionally difficult. Families of missing youths issued pleas for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies worked urgently to determine if their citizens were among those involved in one of the worst tragedies to strike modern Switzerland.
Mathias Reynard, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said forensic specialists were using dental records and DNA samples for the task. “All this work needs to be done because the information is so terrible and sensitive that no detail can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he explained.
Despite having one of the world’s most advanced medical systems, Switzerland’s regional clinics quickly became overwhelmed in the hours after the blaze. Over 30 people were taken to hospitals with specialised burns units 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, said he had offered his country’s help as clinics in Paris and Lyon took in patients, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had hospital beds available.
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 visit Crans-Montana.
Swiss officials have said about 40 people were killed but a foreign government has put the fatality count at 47, based on early data.
A regional health and safety official said on Friday he was “taken aback” 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 identified. A number of Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Some victims were returned home on Thursday with more to follow.
The French foreign ministry said nine French citizens were among the injured and additional individuals remained missing. Australia has said one of its nationals was hurt.
Loved ones have been working desperately to find their missing family members, using online platforms to circulate photos of those still missing.
Paulo Martins, a French citizen living in the area for 24 years, said his son and his girlfriend narrowly missed being in the bar at the time of the fire. “When he came home he was deeply traumatized,” Martins said.
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 frantic search for friends who have been unheard from since the fire. 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 explained. “But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. 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.
The director of the city’s university hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 severely injured patients, most between 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 protracted and demanding, lasting several weeks or even many months.”
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