Investigators have identified the last 16 people who died in the New Year\u2019s Eve bar fire at the Swiss mountain resort of Crans-Montana, police said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Officers in Valais canton said they had managed to identify the last of the 40 bodies from the blaze, one of the worst disasters in recent Swiss history, with forensic work particularly slow-going due to the horrific burns sustained by most of the victims.<\/p>\n
Charlotte Niddam, 15, a former pupil at Immanuel College in Hertfordshire, was among the last 16 victims to be identified. She was initially reported as missing.<\/p>\n
Her family said in a social media post on Sunday: \u201cIt is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beautiful daughter and sister Charlotte.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post said her funeral is expected to take place in Paris later this week.<\/p>\n
According to the Crans-Montana resort website, Charlotte had been working as a babysitter in the area.<\/p>\n
The last 16 victims included two Swiss girls aged 15, a Swiss woman aged 22, a Swiss and French woman aged 24, two Italian girls aged 16 and 15, an Italian boy aged 16, a 22-year-old Portuguese woman, a 17-year-old Belgian girl, two French women aged 33 and 26, two French men aged 23 and 20, two French teenage boys aged 17 and 14, and a 15-year-old girl with French, British, and Israeli nationalities, police said.<\/p>\n
Those previously identified were 10 Swiss nationals, two Italians, one person with Italian-Emirati citizenship, one Romanian, one person from France and one from Turkey, Valais police said.<\/p>\n
The mother of Arthur Brodard, a 16-year-old Swiss boy, confirmed that he was among those killed. \u201cOur Arthur has departed to party in heaven,\u201d Laetitia Brodard-Sitre said on her Facebook page. \u201cNow we can start our mourning, knowing he is in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people joined a silent procession through the upmarket resort town on Sunday to honour the victims of the catastrophe.<\/p>\n
After a service at the Chapelle St-Christophe, the sombre crowd filed silently out of the chapel to organ music. Some exchanged hugs and others applauded before joining the silent march up the hill to Le Constellation bar.<\/p>\n
Mourners marched in silence from the chapel to the makeshift memorial. Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott\/EPA<\/p>\n
People in the dense procession walked in bright sunshine past shuttered stores. A stream of mourners and well-wishers deposited bouquets at a makeshift memorial piled with flowers, cuddly toys and other tributes.<\/p>\n
Applause began rippling from one end to the other as dozens of police and emergency services workers came up through the middle of the procession to be celebrated as heroes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough this tragic event, I believe we must all remember that we are all brothers and sisters in humanity,\u201d said V\u00e9ronique Barras, a local resident who knows grieving families. \u201cIt\u2019s important to support each other, to hug each other and to move forward towards light.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the crowd, Paola Ponti Greppi, an 80-year-old Italian who has a home in Crans-Montana, called for better safety checks in bars. \u201cWe need more safety in these places because it\u2019s not the only place like this. Why didn\u2019t the town do the proper checks? For me that\u2019s terrible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
During the hour-long mass, the bishop Jean-Marie Lovey said condolences had poured in from around the world, including from the pope.<\/p>\n
\u201cCountless people join us \u2013 people whose hearts are broken,\u201d Lovey told the congregation. \u201cMany expressions of sympathy and solidarity reach us.<\/p>\n
\u201cPope Leo XIV joins in our sorrow. In a moving message, he expresses his compassion and his care for the victims\u2019 families and strengthens the courage of all who are suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n
People attend a memorial mass at the Chapelle St-Christophe. Photograph: Baz Ratner\/AP<\/p>\n
The Rev Gilles Cavin spoke of the \u201cterrible uncertainty\u201d for families unsure if their loved ones were among the dead or still alive among the injured.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no words strong enough to express the dismay, anguish and anger of those who are affected in their lives today. And yet we are here, gathered, because silence alone is not enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Switzerland will hold a national day of mourning on Friday, with church bells ringing across the country and a minute\u2019s silence planned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this moment of reflection, everyone in Switzerland can personally remember the victims of the disaster,\u201d the Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, told the Sonntagsblick newspaper.<\/p>\n
Investigators believe the fire started when sparkling candles were held too close to the ceiling<\/a> of the venue\u2019s basement level, the region\u2019s chief prosecutor has said.<\/p>\n