Swiss ski resort fire kills 40, over 100 injured: What sparked the blaze?

At least 40 people were killed and over 100 were injured after a fire swept through a Swiss ski resort on New Year's Day. Officials are probing the cause of the incident

As the world rang in the New Year, a deadly fire tore through a Swiss ski resort, killing around 40 people and injuring at least 115. The incident, described by the Swiss President Guy Parmelin as one of the country's worst tragedies, occurred at the Crans-Montana resort in Valais Canton in southwestern Switzerland.

 

While the authorities are trying to ascertain the cause of the fire, they have ruled out the possibility of an attack. Here are the latest details:

How the fire reportedly broke out

The smoke was first spotted coming out of Le Constellation bar in the resort at around 1.30 am. According to two witnesses quoted by French broadcaster BFMTV, a male bartender lifted a female colleague onto his shoulders inside the venue as she held a bottle topped with a lit candle sparkler. The flames quickly spread, causing the wooden ceiling to collapse, they said.

 

 

"I think there were some ladies, waitresses, with champagne bottles and little sparklers. They got too close to the ceiling, and suddenly it all caught fire," Axel, who was also at the scene during the incident, told Italian media outlet Local Team.

 

According to the BFMTV report, the fire triggered chaos as people desperately tried to flee the basement nightclub via a narrow staircase and exit, leading to a crowd surge.

 

What Swiss officials have said about the blaze

Swiss officials described the blaze as an "embrasement généralisé", a French firefighting term for a phenomenon in which combustible gases build up and then ignite violently, reported the Associated Press.

 

Valais' Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud said investigators have recovered several mobile phones from the venue and are questioning witnesses. Authorities will also examine whether the venue complied with safety regulations and had adequate emergency exits, Bloomberg reported.

 

Scale of injuries and hospital response

Describing the severity of the incident, Mathias Reynard, head of the regional government of Valais canton, said the number of injured was so high that the regional hospital’s intensive care unit and operating theatres quickly reached full capacity, reported the Associated Press.

 

Crans-Montana is located in the heart of the Swiss Alps, around 40 kilometres north of the Matterhorn and about two hours from Switzerland’s capital, Bern.