Crans-Montana fire survivors treated in burns units across Europe | Crans-Montana fire

While survivors of the disastrous bar fire in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in specialized burn units across Europe, researchers say many of the dead were so badly burned that it could take days or weeks to identify them.

Approximately 40 people died and 115 people were injured in the fire that broke out during the New Year’s celebration in the Constellation bar and basement nightclub.

Crans-Montana mayor Nicolas Féraud said: “The first goal is to name all the bodies.”

Swiss President Guy Parmelin described the fire as “a disaster of unprecedented, horrific proportions” as he described the devastating toll. “Behind these numbers are faces, names, families, lives brutally shortened, completely interrupted or forever altered,” Parmelin said at a news conference.

The victims’ burns were so severe that Swiss officials said identification efforts were particularly challenging. Parents of missing teenagers issued appeals for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies scrambled to unravel whether their citizens were among those caught up in one of the worst tragedies to hit modern Switzerland.

Mathias Reynard, head of government of the canton of Valais, said experts used dental records and DNA samples for this task. “All this work needs to be done because the information is so horrific and sensitive that nothing can be said to families unless we are 100% sure,” he said.

Despite having one of the world’s most advanced medical systems, Switzerland’s regional clinics quickly reached capacity in the hours after the fire. According to a Swiss news agency, more than 30 people were taken to hospitals with special burn units in Zurich and Lausanne, and six people were taken to Geneva.

While most of the injured were transferred to other countries such as Belgium, France and Germany, the EU said it was in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.

French president Emmanuel Macron said in X that clinics in Paris and Lyon offered help to his country to accept patients, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said hospital beds were available.

While Italy and France are among the countries that say some of their citizens are missing, Italy’s Ambassador to Switzerland Gian Lorenzo Cornado said that Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will visit Crans-Montana on Friday.

While Swiss authorities said that approximately 40 people died, Italy determined the death toll as 47, according to information received from Swiss authorities.

Regional health and safety official Stéphane Ganzer said on Friday he was “surprised” by the second figure. “This is not the same number as we have,” he told RTL radio.

All but five of the injured have been identified, Cornado said. Six Italians remain missing and 13 have been hospitalized. He said three Italians were repatriated on Thursday and three more would arrive on Friday.

The French foreign ministry said there were nine French citizens among the injured and eight others were missing. Australia announced that one of its citizens was injured.

Relatives and friends who share photos of the missing on social media are struggling to find their loved ones.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen who has lived around Crans-Montana for 24 years, said his son and his girlfriend narrowly missed being in the bar at the time of the fire. “He was really in shock when he came home,” Martins told Agence France-Presse.

Martins said a friend of his 17-year-old son was transported to Germany for treatment with burns covering 30 percent of his body.

17-year-old Eleonore started the year frantically searching for friends who had been missing since the fire. Standing outside the bar, now protected by a wall of white tarps and makeshift barriers, he said he hadn’t heard from them since New Year’s Eve.

“We took a lot of photos [and] We put them on Instagram, Facebook and every social network possible to find them,” he told AFP. “But there’s nothing. No answer. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the families don’t know.”

He and a friend managed to get word that a friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Claire Charmet, director of the city’s university hospital, said she treated 22 patients with severe burns, most aged between 16 and 26.

“Patients are stabilized and transferred to the operating room or special beds,” he told the local newspaper. 24 hours on Thursday. “We must be aware that treatment will be long and intense, lasting several weeks or even months.”

Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report.