Crans-Montana Fire Survivors Are Treated in Specialist Clinics Throughout the Continent

Survivors of the devastating nightclub blaze in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in special burns units in various European nations, while authorities say many of the deceased were so badly burned that identification could take an extended period.

A Calamity of Unprecedented Proportions

Approximately 40 people were killed and 115 hurt when the inferno engulfed a New Year’s Eve celebration in the crowded Constellation bar and underground club.

“Our primary goal is to put names to all the victims,” said Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a disaster of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” as he outlined the devastating toll. “Beyond these numbers are individuals, names, families, lives brutally cut short, completely interrupted or for ever changed,” 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. Families of unaccounted-for young people issued pleas for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies scrambled to determine if their citizens were among those involved in one of the worst tragedies to strike modern Switzerland.

A regional leader, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said forensic specialists were using dental charts and DNA samples for the task. “All this work needs to be done because the information is so terrible and sensitive that no detail can be told to the families unless we are completely certain,” he said.

Overwhelmed Medical Systems

Despite having one of the world’s most sophisticated healthcare networks, Switzerland’s regional clinics quickly reached capacity 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 flown to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU confirmed it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, stated online he had offered his country’s assistance 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 a number of their citizens are unaccounted for and Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would travel to Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said about 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 expressed surprise on Friday he was “taken aback” by the latter figure. “This is not the same number that we have,” he told a media outlet.

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 hospitalised. Some victims were repatriated on Thursday with more to follow.

The French foreign ministry said nine French citizens were among the injured and additional individuals remained missing. Australia has said one of its nationals was injured.

Desperate Search for Loved Ones

Relatives and friends have been working desperately to find their loved ones, using online platforms to share images of those unaccounted for.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen living 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 deeply traumatized,” Martins told reporters.

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

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a desperate hunt for friends who have been missing since the fire. Outside the bar, now covered by white tarpaulins and a wall of temporary barriers, she said she had not heard from them since New Year’s Eve.

“We took loads of photos [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. No information. Even the parents haven't heard anything.”

She and a friend managed to get news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Long Road to Recovery

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

“Patients are being medically stabilized and moved to the surgery or to specialised beds,” she informed a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the medical care will be long and intense, lasting many weeks or even many months.”