Crans-Montana Fire Victims Receive Care in Specialist Clinics Across Europe

Those who escaped of the devastating bar fire in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are receiving treatment in special burns units across Europe, while investigators say many of the deceased were so badly burned that naming the victims could take an extended period.

A Tragedy of Terrifying Scale

Approximately 40 people were lost their lives and 115 injured when the blaze ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the crowded Constellation bar and basement nightclub.

“The first objective is to put names to all the bodies,” stated Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a calamity of unparalleled, horrifying proportions” as he outlined the devastating toll. “Behind these figures are faces, names, families, lives tragically ended, forever altered or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin said at a press briefing.

Challenging Task of Naming Victims

So severe were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said the process of identification was exceptionally difficult. Parents of missing youths issued pleas for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies scrambled to determine if their nationals were among those caught up in one of the worst tragedies to strike the country in recent memory.

A regional leader, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said forensic specialists were using dental records and DNA samples for the task. “All this work needs to be done because the findings is so distressing and sensitive that nothing can be told to the families unless we are completely certain,” he said.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Even with one of the world’s most sophisticated healthcare networks, Switzerland’s regional clinics quickly became overwhelmed in the hours after the blaze. More than 30 people were taken to hospitals with dedicated burn centers in Zurich and Lausanne and six were flown to Geneva, as reported by news agencies.

A significant number of the injured were transported to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU said it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he had offered his country’s help as clinics in Paris and Lyon took in patients, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had hospital beds available.

A Multinational Tragedy

Italy and France are among the countries that have said some of their nationals are missing and Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would travel to Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said approximately 40 people were killed but a foreign government has put the fatality count at 47, based on early data.

A regional health and safety official said on Friday he was “taken aback” by the higher number. “This is not the same number that we have,” he told a radio station.

The Italian ambassador said all but five of the injured had now been named. A number of Italians are still missing and more than a dozen receiving treatment. Three Italians were returned home on Thursday with more to follow.

The French foreign ministry said nine French citizens were among the injured and additional individuals remained unaccounted for. Australia has said a citizen was injured.

Desperate Search for Loved Ones

Loved ones have been working desperately to find their loved ones, using social media to circulate photos of those still missing.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen resident in the area for 24 years, said his son and his girlfriend just avoided being in the bar at the time of the fire. “When he came home he was really in shock,” Martins told reporters.

A friend of his 17-year-old son had been evacuated for treatment in Germany with severe burns covering a third of his body, Martins added.

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a desperate hunt for friends who have been unheard from since the fire. Standing outside the bar, now shielded by white tarpaulins and a barrier of temporary barriers, she said she had not had contact with them since New Year’s Eve.

“We took many pictures [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, every social network possible to try to find them,” she explained. “But there’s no news. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents haven't heard anything.”

She and a friend later received news that one friend was in a medically induced unconsciousness in a hospital in Lausanne.

Treatment Will Be Lengthy

The director of the city’s teaching hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 severely injured patients, most between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being stabilised and transferred to the operating theatre or to specialised beds,” she told a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the medical care will be long and intense, lasting many weeks or even months.”