Police are investigating whether the club had exceeded the permitted limit on the number of customers, estimated to have been at least 200. Béatrice Pilloud, the local prosecutor, said it was too early to determine whether the French owners of the club had breached fire safety regulations.
People broke windows to get outside because there were so many people scrambling for the doors, witnesses have told Swiss media.
A local official said that some of the victims’ bodies were so badly burnt that it may take days to identify them. “There will have to be DNA and dental analyses as some of the dead cannot be identified by sight,” the official added.
Béatrice Pilloud, a Swiss public prosecutor, said that foreign citizens may be among the victims.
Analysis by Ben Clatworthy
Switzerland is a country that prides itself on its law and order, including its health and safety.
But in ski resorts a blind eye is often turned to regulations that would be enforced in cities.
It is not uncommon for hotels to still have a lounge room where smoking is permitted. And while nightclubs and bars invariably have security staff, it is fights between overexcited holidaymakers that concern them most, not capacity and safety rules.
The fear in this case is that holidaymakers, presumably with the same blind eye, were allowed to light a roman candle firework in a basement of the bar after seeing in the new year although police have not confirmed this theory.
The resort itself is an upmarket destination with many family-run four and five-star hotels and it is feared that the bar was frequented by teenagers and people in their early twenties who were on a ski holiday with their patents.
For police and other officials in the country, the incident will also be a dent to national pride, which takes law-abiding seriously.
A bottle of sparkling wine lies close to where the fire broke out
AP
Crans-Montana banned all unauthorised fireworks ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations.
It has been speculated that Roman candle sparklers may have caused the fire in the Le Constellation bar earlier this morning, although police have not confirmed the theory.
“Due to the lack of rainfall for more than a month, the risk of fire is currently extremely high. In response, the municipalities of Crans-Montana, Lens and Icogne have decided to introduce an immediate ban on all fireworks, including on New Year’s Eve,” the Crans-Montana Tourism & Congress said. “Despite increased surveillance on New Year’s Eve night, the risk remains too great. Residents and visitors are therefore required to comply fully with this ban.”
It added that anyone who failed to comply with the ban would be held liable for all resulting damage.
The British embassy in Switzerland has said that it has not been approached for assistance by British citizens.
“Swiss emergency services are responding to a fire in Crans-Montana, with nationals from multiple countries likely affected. We continue to monitor the situation,” the embassy said. “Whilst we have not been approached for assistance, our staff stand ready to support British nationals abroad 24/7. If you are a British national in need of consular assistance, you can call us 24/7 on + 44 (0) 20 7008 5000.”
At least two French citizens were among those injured, according to initial reports from the French foreign ministry.
Crans-Montana is very popular with French tourists, who make up roughly 10 per cent of all visitors to the luxury Swiss ski resort town.
Adrien, another witness who was outside the club when the fire broke out, described how worried parents arrived seeking news of their children as injured people were brought out. He said most of the guests in the club were aged between 20 and 30, but other witnesses said many were teenagers.
He said: “There was a young man with burns on the pavement outside who kept saying: ‘It hurts, I’m in pain, please call an ambulance.’”
The fire was started by a Roman candle placed in a champagne bottle in the basement nightclub, according to witnesses who spoke to the French news channel BFM.
“Some of the bottles were near the ceiling and it caught fire. The whole ceiling was in flames and the fire spread really fast. It happened in seconds. We ran outside, screaming and crying,“ Emma, a witness who declined to give her surname, said. She added that most of the 200 people she estimated were on the premises were aged between 15 and 20.
“I saw a young man writhing in agony on the floor. His body and his hair were badly burned and half of his face had gone. I think he must have died,” she said.
Albane, another witness who was in the club, said people panicked and scrambled for the exit. “It was packed with people when the fire started,” she said. “It was clearly accidental.” She added the ceiling caught fire after a Roman candle was lit in a bottle that was placed on a raised table.
Due to Swiss law, the number of victims cannot be released until all the relatives of those killed or injured have first been informed. This applies in all major cases, including avalanches and road traffic accidents. The victims of the Crans-Montana fire are thought to be from many European countries.
Swiss safety regulations are very strict but Frédéric Gisler, the police commander of the Valais region, said it was too early to say whether the bar’s emergency exits and fire precautions had complied with the rules, or if the number of people present had exceeded the limit permitted.
Stéphane Ganzer, a member of the Valais local government, said it was not an explosion that started a fire, as reported earlier, but a fire that broke out and caused “the whole building to go up in flames suddenly”.
He said a state of exceptional alert had been declared in the Valais canton after what he described as “a terrible tragedy”.
MAXIME SCHMID/GETTY IMAGES
About three million people visit Crans-Montana each year. The majority of visitors, 80 per cent, are from Switzerland and the remaining 20 per cent are largely from France and Italy, according to the Crans-Montana Tourism & Congress management report for 2024.
The intensive care unit at the local hospital is full, reporters have been told.
The most significantly burned people have been sent to university hospitals across Switzerland. Crans residents have been asked to be very careful in the next few days to avoid putting extra pressure on the local hospital service.
Emergency services at the scene in Crans-Montana
MAXIME SCHMID/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Smoke was first reported at 1.30am, the press conference was told. The first firefighters arrived within minutes.
At least 100 people have been taken to hospital in Sion, Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich.
Officials said that people from dozens of countries are affected which will require a “diplomatic response”.
“Several dozen people were killed and about 100 injured, most of them seriously,” Frédéric Gisler, the police commander of the Valais region, told a news conference.
Investigators are still trying to identify some of the dead, Béatrice Pilloud, the public prosecutor, said.
Police officers at the site of the explosion
MAXIME SCHMID/GETTY IMAGES
Gaetan Lathion, a police spokesman in Valais canton, southwest Switzerland, said: “I confirm that there are several dead and we are seeing many injured … The intervention is still ongoing.”
He added: “We’re just at the beginning of our investigation, but this is an internationally renowned ski resort with lots of tourists.”
Police have sealed off the area around the bar and a no-fly zone has been imposed over Crans-Montana, a fashionable resort in the heart of the Swiss Alps, about 25 miles north of the Matterhorn. It is due to hold the FIS World Cup skiing event at the end of January.
Dozens of people were killed when an explosion and subsequent fire tore through a bar popular with British tourists in a Swiss ski resort during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
More than 100 people were in the bar, Le Constellation, in the Crans-Montana resort at the time of the tragedy. The cause of the blast remains unknown and police said that the incident was not being treated as terror-related.