Swiss authorities confirmed on New Year’s Day that approximately 40 people have died and more than a hundred have been injured, most of them seriously, as a result of a fire that broke out at the Le Constellation bar in the Crans-Montana ski resort in Valais, Switzerland.
The commander of the Valais cantonal police, Frédéric Gisler, announced this death toll at a press conference, explaining that “priority will be given to identifying the deceased so that their bodies can be quickly returned to their families.”
The president of the canton, Matthias Reynard, also stated that identifying the victims “may take time” given the “critical situation” caused by “serious injuries and significant burns.”
At the moment, there is no official information on the identities of the deceased, but it has been confirmed that there are foreign nationals among the victims. Hospitals in the French-speaking part of Switzerland are overwhelmed by the influx of burn victims transferred from Crans-Montana.
Some of the injured have been taken to Zurich, Bern, Lausanne, and Rennaz, and the Valais Hospital already has all its intensive care beds occupied, Reynard explained. He also reported the deployment of ten helicopters, 40 ambulances, and 150 paramedics.
Sources from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed BFMTV that two French citizens are among the injured. “They were immediately treated by emergency services (…) and consular teams are in constant contact with the Swiss authorities,” they explained.
The cantonal attorney general, Béatrice Pilloud, also participated in the Valais press conference and ruled out the possibility that the incident was an attack. “This is absolutely not any kind of attack,” Pilloud stated, adding that an investigation has been opened. “We will do everything in our power to clarify the circumstances of this tragedy,” emphasized Pilloud, who added that the canton of Valais has already requested assistance from neighboring cantons to identify the deceased.
In addition, the cantonal government of Valais declared a state of emergency as of 9:00 a.m. on January 1 to facilitate the mobilization of the necessary resources to respond to this fire as quickly as possible, it explained in a statement.
Pilloud indicated that the incident was caused by an explosion followed by a “violent fire” that devastated the bar around 1:30 a.m. Numerous police officers, firefighters, and rescue services immediately responded to the scene.
The President of the Swiss Confederation, Guy Parmelin, has already referred to the “tragedy” in Crans-Montana and announced the postponement of his traditional New Year’s address. “What should have been a moment of joy turned into a day of mourning in Crans-Montana, a tragedy that has affected the entire country and far beyond. The Federal Council has received this terrible news with dismay,” he posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
Parmelin assumed the rotating presidency of the Federal Council and therefore the head of the Swiss state on January 1, succeeding fellow councilor Karin Keller-Sutter.
