Sweden has offered to receive severely burned patients from the New Year's Eve fire at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, which killed at least 40 and injured over 115, as the country activates EU civil protection aid amid national mourning.
Switzerland activated the EU's civil protection mechanism following the fire, which as previously reported broke out just after midnight on December 31, rapidly spreading through the wooden structure and affecting many young revelers. With hospitals in Zurich, Geneva, and neighboring countries overwhelmed, Sweden announced on January 1 its readiness to accept patients requiring specialized burn care.
Health Minister Elisabeth Lann (KD) told TT: 'We stand ready. It is an urgent situation; many of these patients are very severely injured and need immediate advanced care.' Specialized units at University Hospital in Linköping and Uppsala University Hospital are prepared. Lann compared the incident to the 1998 Gothenburg disco fire, underscoring EU cooperation: 'It shows how important this cooperation within the EU is, that help and support can be coordinated quickly.'
Distance factors into Switzerland's aid decisions. The Swedish Foreign Ministry reports no confirmed Swedish victims, while identification of the deceased—many international—continues. Prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud has ruled out explosion or attack, with the cause still under investigation.
