🔗 Share this article

Those who escaped of the devastating nightclub blaze in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in specialized trauma centers across Europe, while investigators report many of the deceased were so badly burned that naming the victims could take an extended period.

A Calamity of Unprecedented Proportions

Approximately 40 people were killed and 115 injured when the blaze engulfed a New Year’s Eve celebration in the packed Constellation bar and underground club.

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

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, described the fire “a disaster of unparalleled, terrifying proportions” as he outlined the heavy human cost. “Behind these figures are individuals, names, families, lives brutally cut short, forever altered or for ever changed,” Parmelin remarked at a press briefing.

Challenging Task of Naming Victims

Such was the severity were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said the process of identification was particularly gruelling. Parents of unaccounted-for young people issued pleas for news of their family members and diplomatic missions scrambled to find out if their citizens 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 task. “All this work needs to be done because the information is so terrible and delicate that no detail can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he explained.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Despite having one of the world’s most advanced medical systems, Switzerland’s local hospitals quickly reached capacity in the hours after the blaze. Over 30 people were taken to hospitals with dedicated burn centers in Zurich and Lausanne and six were transferred to Geneva, according to news agencies.

A significant number of the injured were transported to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU confirmed it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.

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 medical capacity available.

A Multinational Tragedy

Italy and France are among the countries that have said some of their nationals are unaccounted for and Italy’s diplomatic representative 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 death toll at 47, based on early data.

A regional health and safety official said on Friday he was “surprised” by the higher number. “This is not the same number that we have,” he told a radio station.

The Italian ambassador said all but five of the injured had now been identified. Several Italians are still missing and more than a dozen receiving treatment. Three Italians were repatriated 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 injured.

Desperate Search for Loved Ones

Relatives and friends have been working desperately to find their missing family members, using social media to share images 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 added.

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a desperate hunt for friends who have been missing since the fire. Standing outside the bar, now covered by white tarpaulins and a barrier 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, every social network possible to try to find them,” she explained. “But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. No information. Even the parents don’t know.”

She and a friend managed to get news that one friend was in a medically induced unconsciousness in a hospital in Lausanne.

Long Road to Recovery

The director of the city’s university hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 badly burned patients, most between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being medically stabilized and moved to the operating theatre or to intensive care units,” she informed a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the medical care will be protracted and demanding, lasting many weeks or even many months.”