The fire in the Crans-Montana ski resort: The first assessment presented by Swiss officials. The President of Switzerland: “One of the worst tragedies in our country”

The New Year's Eve party in a bar in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana ended in “one of the worst tragedies that Switzerland has experienced,” Swiss President Guy Parmelin told a news conference on Thursday. “Approximately 40 people died and another 115 were injured,” the Swiss police announced, in the first official toll since the fire.

The fire broke out at 1:30 local time (02:30 Romanian time), in the Le Constellation bar, in the Crans-Montana ski resort, in southwestern Switzerland.

In the evening, the president of Switzerland, Guy Parmelin, the head of the police of the canton of Valais, Frédéric Gisler, and the general prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud spoke in a press conference about the number of victims in the fire.

“Approximately 40 people” died and 115 were injured, “many seriously,” said police chief Frédéric Gisler at the press conference, quoted by the BBC.

The priority in the coming days is to identify the people who died “so that their bodies can be quickly returned” to their families, the police chief said, adding that more foreign nationals were expected to be among the victims.

Crans-Montana is one of the most famous destinations in the Swiss Alps and is usually full during the holiday periods. The MFA in Bucharest reported on Thursday morning that steps are being taken to find out if there are also Romanian citizens affected.

During the conference, Swiss President Guy Parmelin called last night's fire “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced.” The president also announced that the flags will be flown at half mast for five days.

Parmelin also thanked the countries that offered support in the wake of the fire – specifically mentioning neighboring countries France, Germany and Italy.

What officials say about the cause of the fire

At the same conference, Valais canton general prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said authorities would investigate the cause of the fire, but warned that “the investigation will take a long time.”

The prosecutor said that “several hypotheses” have been put forward as to the cause of the fire, and the preferred theory at this time is that of a “general fire which caused a conflagration”. It added that many witnesses had been interviewed and that the phones found would be analyzed.

The Forensic Institute in Zurich has already been mandated to conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the fire, Pilloud said.

People who escaped the burning bar with their lives said they saw a waitress place a birthday candle on a bottle of champagne.

“One of the candles was held too close to the ceiling, which caught fire. Within seconds, the entire ceiling was on fire. Everything was made of wood,” Emma and Albane, two French women, told French television station BFMTV.

At the same time, video footage on social media showed flames quickly engulfing the ceiling of the dimly lit bar above the drinks area.

Asked by a journalist about these testimonies, Beatrice Pilloud said she could not comment on reports that a candle had ignited the bar's wooden ceiling.

Officials do not know how many people were in the bar

Pilloud was also asked about the number of people in the Le Constellation bar when the fire broke out.

“It is completely unknown,” the prosecutor said of the number of people in the bar at the time of the fire, adding that this would be part of the investigation.

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