Teenagers as young as 14 remain unaccounted for following a devastating fire at a Swiss nightclub, which resulted in at least 47 fatalities and 115 injuries.
A New Year’s Eve celebration turned tragic when Le Constellation bar, located in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana, was engulfed by flames, leaving many survivors with third-degree burns.
Families are enduring an excruciating wait for news about their loved ones who might have perished in the early hours of Thursday at the nightclub in southwestern Switzerland.
The injuries sustained by the predominantly young crowd in the basement bar were so extensive that Swiss authorities have indicated it may take several days to identify all of the fire’s victims.
Parents of the missing have issued urgent appeals for any information about their children, while foreign embassies are working to determine if their citizens were among those affected by one of the most significant tragedies in contemporary Swiss history.
Gian Lorenzo Cornado, Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, reported that all but five of the 112 injured individuals have been identified, although Swiss officials have yet to release any names of the deceased or injured.
Six Italians are still missing and 13 hospitalised, while eight French people are missing and another nine are among the injured.
The first deceased victim to be named was 17-year-old Emanuele Galeppini, an Italian teenage golfer.
Guy Parmelin, the Swiss president, described the inferno as ‘one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced’ in that it ‘cut short many young lives’.
Account from survivors and footage broadcast on social media suggested that the ceiling of the bar’s basement may have caught fire when sparklers got too close.
Alice Kallergis
Alice Kallergis, a 15-year-old Greek national, has been missing since the Swiss fire
The brother of 15-year-old Alice Kallergis shared a plea for information about the missing Greek national on social media.
The teenager has not been seen since the outbreak of the fire at around 1.30am local time (12.30am GMT) in the luxury ski resort town , located in the heart of the Swiss Alps.
According to Greek state broadcaster ERT, Kallergis permanent resident of Switzerland.
He brother encouraged anyone with news of her whereabouts to contact the family immediately, saying: ‘We have no news.’
Arthur Brodard
Arthur Brodard, 16, has been missing since the fire
A French mother called Laetitia in her 40s said she had been searching all night for her son
Arthur Brodard, 16, has been missing since the fire.
A French mother called Laetitia in her 40s said she had been searching all night for her son.
‘I’ve been looking for him for over 30 hours,’ she told BFMTV, after seaching every hospital she could find in search of news in vain.
‘I don’t know which hospital he is in. I don’t know which morgue he is in. I don’t know which country he is in. I don’t know which canton he is in,’ she added.
She insisted on defending the presence of children in the bar for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
‘We’re not irresponsible parents for letting our 16-year-olds go out for the New Year. All the parents knew where their children were. They were celebrating with friends.’
Alicia Gonset and Diana Gonset
Alicia Gonset and Diana Gonset were reported missing
Alicia Gonset, 15, and Diana Gonset, 14, were reported missing in a social media post published by their family.
The teenagers were previously identified as granddaughters in a Swiss obituary for Monsieur Pierre Gonset, suggesting they are related to Charles Gonset, his son, and Christina Schneider, his partner, in Pully, Switzerland.
Emilie Pralong
Missing 22-year-old Émilie Pralong
Distraught French grandfather Pierre Pralong appealed on TV for any information about his missing granddaughter, Émilie, 22.
Having gone to Crans-Montana that evening with two other friends, Émilie has not been heard from since.
Her grandfather made an appeal on BFMTV on Thursday evening, January 1, ‘for witnesses to people at the La Constellation bar who might have seen Émilie.’
‘Give us the information. Call me, call Grandpa,’ he said.
Stiven Ivanovski
An urgent appeal for help is being made by family and friends after the disappearance of young Stiven Ivanovski in Switzerland
An urgent appeal for information is being made by the family and friends of Stiven Ivanovski.
The Macedonian was last seen before the fire broke out at at Le Constellation in the alpine town, approximately two hours from the Swiss capital of Bern.
‘He was wearing white pants and a white sweater, as seen in [the picture], possibly those sunglasses,’ a family member wrote.
A photograph has emerged showing a waitress, riding on the shoulders of a colleague, holding a sparkler in the air moments before the deadly blaze ripped through the ski bar.
Separate footage filmed moments later shows a brave reveller trying to put out flames as they spread across the wooden ceiling of Le Constellation nightclub in south-west Switzerland.
Witnesses say a sparkler in a champagne bottle caused the inferno in the bar in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana, where around 200 partygoers had gathered to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
French outlet BFMTV said it had been sent the photograph of the waitress by survivors, who took the picture moments before the fire began.
Despite the efforts of the young hero to put out the flames, the blaze would soon engulf the crowded basement, travel up the narrow wooden stairs and set off explosions so deafening that residents feared a terror attack.
Survivors have since described harrowing scenes inside the club as people were burned, overcome by smoke, and struggled to escape amid a desperate stampede.
So severe were the burns suffered by the mostly young crowd – many in their teens and 20s – that Swiss officials said it could take days before they name all the victims of the fire.
A photograph sent by survivors to French outlet BFMTV shows a waitress at Le Constellation sitting on the shoulders of a colleague while holding a sparkler in the air, moments before the deadly blaze ripped through the bar
Footage from the evening shows a brave reveller trying to put out the first flames as they spread across the wooden ceiling of the cramped basement bar in south-west Switzerland
Despite his efforts, the blaze would soon engulf the crowded basement, travel up the narrow wooden stairs and set off explosions so deafening that residents feared a terror attack
Following the fire, two women told BFMTV they had been inside the nightclub when they saw a barman carrying a female server on his shoulders.
She was holding a lit candle in a champagne bottle that set fire to the wooden ceiling, causing it to collapse, they said.
Victoria, one of the survivors, recounted what she saw moments before the fire: ‘It was firework candles inside a champagne bottle that caused the explosion. The entire ceiling of the bar caught fire.’
‘All the windows were black and opaque with smoke,’ she added. She believes many of the victims suffocated.
‘Some people smashed windows to let in air,’ she said. ‘I’m still shaking; many were crying as they left. It was mass panic.’
Another photo sent to BFMTV by survivors shows several partygoers carrying champagne bottles filled with sparklers, apparently moments before the blaze.
Adrien was also at Le Constellation when the fire began. ‘We saw people smashing windows, running and screaming,’ he said. ‘Parents were racing up in their cars. It was like a horror movie.’
A young Italian man said he is still anxiously waiting to hear from a friend who had been celebrating New Year’s Eve at the bar in Crans-Montana.
He told Italian public broadcaster Rai News one of his friends was ‘was burned all over’ while another was taken to Zurich by helicopter.
‘Another friend of ours…last night we had no news, he couldn’t be found,’ he said.
‘My friends and I, we haven’t slept last night, we’ve barely eaten.’
Dalia Gubbay, a woman from Milan who has visited Crans-Montana over Christmas for the past 30 years, told Corriere della Sera that her daughter-in-law ‘saw people burned, white sheets being placed over bodies’.
Another witness, Gianni, told Swiss outlet 20 Minuten that victims suffered severe burns, with faces ‘completely disfigured’ and hair burned away.
He said many were left blackened by the flames, with their clothes fused to their skin.
Tim Steffens, a 19-year-old ski instructor who witnessed the blaze, spoke to the same outlet about the scenes of panic as the fire broke out.
‘Everyone was pushing and shoving their way out of the stairwell,’ he said. ‘It was awful. They were all burned. Their clothes were burned away. It really wasn’t a pretty sight. The screams… not pretty, not pretty.’
Another woman told BFMTV of the difficulty in escaping the club, which had been rated just 6.5 out of 10 for safety.
‘The staircase leading out of the nightclub was extremely narrow,’ she said. ‘There was a huge surge in the crowd. We managed to escape just in time.’
