At least 40 people were charred to death and over 100 others were injured after a deadly fire ripped a crowded bar in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana in Switzerland during a New Year's party.
According to the Swiss police, the blaze broke out in the early morning hours at Le Constellation where young partygoers who gathered at the bar to celebrate the new year.
Officials added that they are still investigating the cause of the fire and the explosion that followed. However, they ruled out the possibility of the terrorist attack.
Emergency services sent 10 helicopters and 40 ambulances to transport the injured to hospitals, officials said at a news briefing Thursday morning. The emergency ward and operating rooms at the nearest major medical center ran out of space to treat the victims.
Three specialized jets took burn victims to Zurich, the country's largest city, about 90 miles away. In an interview with the Swiss news site 24 heures, Claire Charmet, the head of a hospital in Lausanne, where 22 severely burned patients were taken, said most of the survivors were between 16 and 26.
How it happened?According to police commander Frederic Gisler, the smoke was spotted around 1.30am. Few seconds later a witness contacted the police.
"Immediately, the red alarm, which mobilises the fire department, was triggered," Gisler said, adding that firefighters "quickly contained the blaze" while the injured were being treated.
Authorities, however, declined to speculate on what caused the tragedy.
Meanwhile, several news channels seemed to point to sparklers that were apparently mounted on top of champagne bottles and held aloft by restaurant staff as part of a regular "show" put on for patrons who made special orders to their tables.
"I think there were some ladies, waitresses, with champagne bottles and little sparklers. They got too close to the ceiling, and suddenly it all caught fire," Axel, who was present at the time of the incident, told the Italian media outlet Local Team.
A tourist from New York, who filmed bright orange flames pouring from the bar, told AFP he saw people running and screaming.
Alexis Lagger, an 18-year-old, had been walking with a group of friends past Le Constellation bar, a spot popular with young people and tourists, when they noticed smoke and flames emerging from the venue and called the police.
"People were running through the flames. People were using chairs to try to break the windows," he told Swiss public broadcaster RTS.
Were safety standards met?According to Crans-Montana website, Le Constellation has a capacity of 300 people, plus another 40 people on its terrace.
However, several witnesses said that the event space in the basement of the establishment, where the fire began, was connected with the ground floor by only a staircase, which some described as "narrow".
Meanwhile, Wallis's chief prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud contested the allegations and stressed that the cause of the tragedy was still being investigated.
Responding to questions from reporters, she said she had seen the site herself.
"What exactly constitutes a narrow staircase?" she asked, stressing that the probe would "determine whether all safety standards were met".
Pilloud also said it was "too early" to comment on whether emergency exits met the required standards, or whether the necessary procedures had been followed before organising the New Year's event.
Multiple sources told news agency AFP that the bar owners are French nationals: a couple originally from Corsica who, according to a relative, are safe and sound, but who have been unreachable since the tragedy.
Given the bar's usually youthful clientele, questions were also being raised about the possible presence of minors at the time of the tragedy.
Who are the victims?The bar was a popular spot among the tourists and drew a young crowd. Authorities are yet to release any information on the victims, but said that foreign nationals are also expected among the victims.
"Given the international nature of the Crans resort, we can expect foreign nationals to be among the victims," Gisler said.
He said Swiss authorities were "in close contact with the victims' families, whom we are informing in real time, as well as with the various embassies involved".
Stephane Ganzer, head of Wallis's security department, did not confirm that.
But, he told reporters, "you can imagine that on New Year's Eve, in a ski resort, the population is undoubtedly quite young".
We have someone close to us who is still missing
Meanwhile, hundreds gathered in silence in the freezing night, laying flowers and lighting candles to remember the victims.
"There are dead and injured, and we have someone close to us who is still missing. We have no news of them," said one woman who did not want to be identified.
After laying flowers with her friend, they walked away, arm in arm.
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