Officials confirm likely cause of fire at Swiss ski resort that killed 40 as footage emerges
Officials have shared the likely cause of a fire at a Swiss ski resort in the early hours of Thursday morning (1 January) that killed 40 people.
With footage and images shared online, Beatrice Pilloud, Valais attorney general, has said that everything has led them to believe the fire broke out from sparklers attached to champagne bottles that were moved too close to the ceiling of the Constellation Bar. And from this, the blaze began very quickly.
Having broken out at around 1:30am during New Year's celebrations in the Crans-Montana resort, it left 119 other people injured, with four remaining in intensive care in critical condition.
Those injured suffered from serious burns and smoke inhalation with some 'transferred or will be transferred soon to European countries in specialised centres for severe burns".
Advert
The attorney general added that the two French managers of the bar were interviewed as well as people who escaped the fire.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that they were inside when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders while she was holding a lighted candle in a bottle.
One of them said that were were desperately trying to escape from the basement nightclub using a narrow flight of stairs and door which she claims caused a crowd surge.
A young man at the scene also said people smashed windows in order to escape the blaze with some gravely injured. He compared what happened to a horror film as he claims to have seen about 20 people scrambling to get out of the smoke and flames.
Investigators say they have analysed video footage and interviewed several people. They ruled out the possibility of an attack on Thursday.
The severity of the burns has made it difficult to identify bodies with head of the Swiss Judicial Police, Pierre-Antoine Lengen, saying it is the 'absolute priority' right now.
"No mistakes can be permitted. We need to give the correct remains back to the families," he said during today's press conference. And President of Canton Valais Mathias Reynard added that he knows 'each minute that passes without answers' is 'unbearable' for those related to victims.
Injured survivors suffered burns to varying degrees as it's explained it's not just to their skin but also their airways.
“There were inhalations of both smoke and also of heat that for some probably led to internal burns. That’s a really catastrophic situation, as you can imagine,” Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion said.
Jess Battison