Swiss investigators on Friday began identifying victims of a fire that swept through the Le Constellation bar during a New Year’s Eve party in the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people and injuring roughly 115, many seriously. Officials said the severity of the burns is slowing identification, with dental records and DNA testing expected to take days.
Investigators on Friday began the painstaking process of identifying the burned bodies after a fire tore through the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, an upscale Swiss resort known for skiing and golf.
Authorities have said about 40 people were killed and around 115 were injured, many of them seriously, during a New Year’s Eve celebration at the venue. Officials said most of those caught up in the blaze were young partygoers.
So severe were the burns that officials said it could take days to confirm all identities. “The first objective is to assign names to all the bodies,” Crans-Montana’s mayor, Nicolas Feraud, told a press conference on Thursday evening. Mathias Reynard, head of the government of the canton of Valais, said specialists were using dental and DNA samples.
“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 said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Swiss authorities have said it appeared to be an accident rather than an attack. Accounts from survivors and video circulated on social media have suggested the ceiling of the bar’s basement may have caught fire after sparkling candles were brought too close.
Residents of Crans-Montana gathered near the cordoned-off scene on Thursday night to pay their respects. Many said they knew victims personally, and dozens left flowers or lit candles at a makeshift memorial.
“You think you’re safe here but this can happen anywhere. They were people like us,” said Piermarco Pani, 18.
Police said some bodies remained inside the bar as investigators worked to recover victims and confirm identities. Parents of missing youths issued pleas for information, while foreign embassies sought to determine whether their nationals were among the dead and injured.
(Reporting by Dave Graham and Emma Farge; Editing by Alistair Bell)
