Dozens of people are feared dead and around 100 more were seriously injured after a fire broke out during New Year’s celebrations at a bar in Swiss Alps, authorities in the country said Thursday.
The fire started around 1:30 a.m. this morning in a bar called ‘Le Constellation,’ in the Alpine ski resort municipality of Crans-Montana, police spokesperson Gaëtan Lathion told The Associated Press.
“More than a hundred people were in the building, and we are seeing many injured and many dead,” he said, adding, “We’re just at the beginning of our investigation, but this is a internationally renown ski resort with lots of tourists.”
NBC News verified footage posted to social media that showed the building ablaze, thick smoke billowing into the air as crowds gathered around and some people ran towards the scene. Screaming could be heard in the background.
Another video posted to TikTok showed emergency services on scene in the aftermath of the blaze and the area sealed off with police tape.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin whose first day in office was on Thursday, wrote on X that the government’s “thoughts go to the victims, to the injured and their relatives, to whom it addresses its sincere condolences.” What was meant to be a moment of joy turned into mourning, he added.
Out of respect for the families of the victims, he delayed a traditional New Year address to the nation meant to be broadcast Thursday afternoon, Swiss broadcasters SRF and RTS reported.
Police said the investigation was in its early stages and it was not possible to be precise about how many people had been killed in the town which sits in the region of Valais approximately two hours from the Swiss capital of Bern.
But Italy's foreign ministry said in a statement that Swiss police believed around 40 people had died in the fire. The victims could not be immediately identified because of the severity of their burns, it added. France's foreign ministry said two French nationals were injured in the fire.
The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, Mathias Rénard, a regional councilor said at a news conference in Crans-Montana. Patients were being transferred elsewhere, he said. Some of the victims were from other countries.
Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the fire’s cause as experts had not been able to go inside the wreckage. “At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” she added.
In separate statement, police from the Valaisanne canton, or region, said a no-fly zone had been imposed over Crans-Montana.
Dozens of people are feared dead and hundreds more injured. MAXIME SCHMID / AFP - Getty Images
“Numerous emergency personnel from the police, fire brigade and rescue services immediately responded to provide assistance to the many affected individuals,” the statement said. A reception center and helpline have been setup for impacted families, it added.
Authorities also called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require already overwhelmed medical resources.
The community in the heart of the Swiss Alps sits just 25 miles north of the Matterhorn. The municipality was formed only nine years ago, on Jan. 1, 2017, when multiple towns merged.
At the end of this month, it is set to host an international speed skiing championship — the FIS World Cup, where world's best skiers will race each other downhill from the top of one of the mountains, according to the resort's website.
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