A devastating fire that ripped through a popular Swiss ski resort club on New Year's Eve has claimed at least 47 lives, with survivors pointing to lit sparklers on champagne bottles as the likely cause of one of Switzerland's worst modern tragedies.
Moments of Celebration Turn to Terror
The inferno erupted in the basement of Le Constellation club in the upscale winter resort of Crans-Montana, located in the Valais region. Chilling footage from moments before the blaze shows waitresses carrying bottles of alcohol adorned with lit sparklers through the crowded venue. The celebration quickly turned into a nightmare as flames, believed to have been ignited by the sparklers, engulfed the building less than two hours after midnight.
Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old survivor, described the horrific scene. He told reporters he saw 'waitresses with champagne bottles and sparklers' before the fire took hold. 'They got too close to the ceiling, and suddenly it all caught fire,' he said. Clavier escaped by forcing a window open with a table, but tragically lost a friend in the blaze. He added that two or three of his friends remained missing hours after the disaster.
A Grim Toll and Painful Identification Process
The human cost of the fire is staggering. While Swiss officials initially cited around 40 fatalities, Italian authorities, based on Swiss information, confirmed a death toll of at least 47. Stéphane Ganzer, a Valais state councillor, revealed that up to 100 people are in critical condition, fighting for their lives in hospital.
Identifying the victims has become a harrowing task for authorities. The severity of the burns has made visual recognition nearly impossible. Nicolas Feraud, the mayor of Crans-Montana, stated at a press conference that the primary objective is to assign names to all the bodies. Mathias Reynard, head of the Valais cantonal government, confirmed that experts are resorting to DNA analysis and dental records to identify the remains.
'All this work needs to be done because the information is so terrible and sensitive that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100 percent sure,' Reynard explained. Of the approximately 112 people injured, all but five have now been identified.
International Victims and Desperate Searches
The tragedy has an international dimension, with many victims and missing persons being foreign nationals enjoying the Swiss Alps over the holiday period. Italy and France have confirmed that some of their citizens are among the missing. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was scheduled to visit Crans-Montana.
The desperate search for loved ones was poignantly illustrated by Carla Masielli, the mother of missing Italian Giovanni Tamburi. She issued a public appeal, pleading for any news. 'We have called all the hospitals but they don't give me any news. We don't know if he's among the dead. We don't know if he's among the missing. They don't tell us anything!' she said. Australia has also confirmed one of its nationals was injured in the fire.
As the community reels and families await news, the investigation into the exact cause continues, with the haunting image of celebratory sparklers now forever linked to a night of unimaginable loss.
