Police have identified the first four victims of a New Year’s Eve bar fire in a Swiss ski resort.
Police said the bodies of two Swiss women, aged 21 and 16, and two Swiss men, aged 18 and 16, had been returned to their families.
Valais police said in a statement that “extensive” work by officers and the Institute of Forensic Medicine had made the identification possible, and that efforts to identify the remaining victims were continuing.
A fire at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana has killed 40 people and injured 119 others, officials said. With many of the injured identified, families now face an agonizing wait for information about the missing people.
Preliminary investigations found that the fire may have been caused by fireworks on champagne bottles that were too close to the ceiling.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin called it “one of the worst tragedies” the country has ever experienced.
Additional details about the identified victims, including names, have not yet been released.
Many teenagers were among the dead and missing. Le Constellation is a popular venue among the younger crowd in the ski resort town, where the drinking age is 16.
On Friday, police said 113 injured people had been identified, including 71 Swiss citizens, 14 French citizens and 11 Italian citizens.
A teenage golfer from Italy was the first death, although Swiss and Italian officials have so far refused to confirm his death.
A helpline has been set up for concerned families: +41 848 112 117
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