Crans-Montana, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss investigators are looking into the cause of a fire at a bar in an Alpine ski resort during New Year’s celebrations that killed dozens of people and injured 100 others.
A fire ripped through a crowded bar in southwestern Switzerland less than two hours after midnight on Thursday, causing most of the casualties, many seriously.
The resort of Crans-Montana is famous for its international skiing and golf courses. Overnight, the crowded Le Constellation bar was transformed from a venue for revelry to the scene of perhaps one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies.
Crans-Montana is less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Scheier, Switzerland, where a bus from Belgium collided in a Swiss tunnel in 2012, killing 28 people, including many children.
Here’s what we know about the deadly fire:
Crazy escape attempt
The fire broke out at Le Constellation bar around 1:30 a.m. Thursday amid festive celebrations.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they saw a male bartender inside lifting a female bartender over his shoulders while she held a lit candle. They told broadcasters that flames spread and wooden ceilings collapsed.
One of the women said the crowd swelled as people frantically tried to escape the basement nightclub by climbing up a narrow flight of stairs and through a narrow door.
According to BFMTV, a young man at the scene said that people smashed windows to escape, and some of them were seriously injured. He said he saw about 20 people scrambling to escape the smoke and flames, like something out of a horror movie.
Mathias Reynard, head of local government in Valais canton, said the number of injured was so high that intensive care units and operating rooms in local hospitals were quickly at capacity.
Officials rule out possible attack
While officials said Thursday it was too early to determine the cause of the fire, investigators have ruled out an attack.
Valais canton Attorney General Beatrice Piloud told a news conference that experts had not yet entered the wreckage.
Efforts are underway to identify the victims and notify their families.
Giesler added that “dozens” of people were feared dead.
Flame triggers flashover or flashback
Swiss officials called the blaze an “embrasement généralisé,” a French firefighting term that describes how a fire triggers a release of flammable gases that then ignites violently and causes what English firefighters call a flashover or backlash.
The victim suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation. Some are airlifted to specialist hospitals across the country.
Authorities are urging people to exercise caution in the coming days to avoid any incidents that could require already overwhelmed medical resources.
Top venues for the world’s best athletes
Located in the heart of the Valais region’s snow-capped peaks and pine forests, Crans-Montana is one of the top venues on the World Cup circuit with its high-altitude ski slopes reaching approximately 3,000 meters (nearly 9,850 feet) above sea level.
The resort will host the best men’s and women’s downhill athletes, including Lindsey Vonn, for the final competition before the Olympics in Cortina, Milan, in February.
The town’s Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club, located just down the street from the pub, hosts the European Masters every August on its picturesque course.
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Dazio reported from Berlin and Lester reported from Paris. Geir Moulson in Berlin and Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
