The family of a teenager missing after a fire broke out in a bar in a Swiss ski resort are facing an agonizing wait for official news and have appealed for information about their loved one to be made available online.
In the early hours of New Year’s Day, a fire ripped through Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana in the Swiss Alps in southwestern Switzerland. Verified images show the ceiling set on fire as bottles containing fireworks were held aloft.
Swiss authorities said the fire killed 40 people and injured 119 others, and it may take days or even weeks to identify the victims. Officials said on Friday that 113 of the injured had been identified and authorities were still working to identify six others.
Meanwhile, family and friends have been appealing on social media for information about loved ones who were at the pub that night.
The whereabouts of Arthur Brodard, a 16-year-old Swiss citizen whose whereabouts are unknown, launched the appeal following an appeal from his mother Laetitia.
The resident of Lutry, near Lausanne, told local newspaper Le Temps that she had returned to Lausanne to check if he was in hospital, while Arthur’s father did the same in Bern but could not find him.
“I’m living a nightmare, a nightmare. Either I find my son in the morgue or I find him in critical condition. It’s horrible,” she said.
Letitia told the newspaper that some of Arthur’s friends were found with burns covering nearly half their bodies. “There’s nothing to say – they’ve been through hell.”
Also reported missing by family members was 22-year-old Emilie Pralong, who was believed to be at Le Constellation with several friends who may also be missing.
Her grandfather Pierre described to BFMTV the “painful” process of waiting for information: “We always hope – we are hopeful. This helps to overcome any difficulties.”
While he expressed optimism that she might be relatively safe in hospital, he said: “We have to be prepared to accept more difficult situations. In the face of a tragedy like this, we cannot dream, we have to be realistic.”
Italy’s foreign ministry said six Italian citizens were still missing.
Among them is Emanuele Galeppini, a 17-year-old junior golfer from Genoa who now lives in Dubai.
The Italian Golf Federation said he had died but made no mention of the fire, instead paying tribute to “a young athlete full of passion and true values”.
Italian TV channel TG24 quoted his father Eduardo as saying his son was at the bar and was last heard from around midnight. An Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman told the BBC that the death had not been confirmed.
Another missing Italian is 16-year-old Achille Osvaldo Giovanni Barosi, who entered the bar at 01:30 local time on New Year’s Day to retrieve his jacket and mobile phone. His family has not heard from him since.
“We don’t know if he’s still alive,” his aunt Francesca told the BBC World Service’s OS program.
She described her nephew, who attended an art school in Milan, as a beautiful boy and an excellent painter.
“We just want to find him, that’s all.”
Giovanni TambriThe 16-year-old was also among the missing. His mother, Carla Masiello, who is from Bologna, told La Repubblica that he was on holiday with his father but went out with friends and ended up at the Constellation Hotel.
“One of his close friends told me they ran away after the fire and he [his phone] with him, but then at a certain point he could no longer see him,” she told the newspaper, adding that he always wore a gold chain with a small Madonna hanging around his neck.
One of his teachers at Zaragozamen High School, Tania Causio, told La Repubblica: “I was always impressed by his kindness and his smile and his maturity. Every time I walked into the classroom he would ask me if I wanted him to get me a cup of coffee.”
Alice KalergisAccording to Greek media sources and reports, he, who has dual Greek-Swiss citizenship but lives permanently in Switzerland, was also seen at the bar on New Year’s Eve.
Her brother launched an appeal on Instagram, saying the family had “no news about the 15-year-old girl or the three friends who disappeared with her”.
Greek consular authorities said they were continuing to monitor developments closely.
Additional reporting by Nikos Papanikolaou and Isabella Bull
