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Massive blaze sweeps through Swiss Alps bar during New Year celebrations, leaves dozens dead | Video
Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said “several tens of people” had been killed in the blaze.
A massive fire swept through a Swiss Alps bar following an explosion while New Year celebrations were underway, killing dozens of people and injuring, police said on Thursday.
Swiss news outlet Blick reported that the explosion and the subsequent fire may have been caused by pyrotechnics during a concert.
The bar, Le Constellation, is located in the resort town of Crans-Montana. Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said “several tens of people” had been killed in the blaze, the Associated Press reported. “We are devastated,” Gisler said at a news conference.
A video of the incident taken from outside the bar shows a massive blaze inside, with a crowd of people gathered outside. People can be heard yelling near the site of the incident, with some running towards the bar.
According to officials, helicopters and ambulances were rushed to the scene of the incident to assist victims, some of whom were from different countries.
Gisler said work was underway to identify the victims and inform their families. However, the police commander added that this “would take time”, adding that it was “premature” to give a “more precise figure” at the time, AP reported.
Head of the regional government Mathias Rénard said that owing to the number of injured in the incident, the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital hit full capacity. “This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” AP quoted Rénard as saying.
Regarding the cause of the incident, Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to point out the cause of the fire, with experts not yet being able to go inside the wreckage to make a determination. However, Pilloud clarified that “at no moment is there a question of any kind of attack.”
The municipality in the region had earlier banned fireworks on New Year's Eve owing to a lack of rainfall over the past month. Following the incident, the authorities have urged local residents to exercise caution in the coming days to avoid any such incidents which would require medical resources, which are already overwhelmed, according to the AP report.
