Switzerland fire: Sleuths say flares on wine bottles may be cause of blaze

Swiss investigators on Friday said they believe sparkling flares attached to champagne bottles may have triggered the devastating fire at a ski resort bar, igniting the blaze after coming into contact with the low ceiling of a packed venue during New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The fire tore through the crowded Le Constellation bar at the Crans-Montana resort, killing at least 43 people and injuring 119 others, authorities said. The bar was filled with revellers ushering in the new year when the blaze broke out in the early hours of Thursday, rapidly engulfing the space and trapping dozens inside.

Among those present was Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old from Paris, who said he suddenly felt as though he was suffocating inside the Swiss Alpine bar — moments after celebrating with friends and scores of other young people.

Clavier managed to escape by forcing open a window using a table. Many others were not as fortunate. Around 40 partygoers died, including one of Clavier’s friends, in what officials described as one of the deadliest tragedies in Switzerland’s recent history. Police said a large number of those injured were teenagers or young adults in their early to mid-20s.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Clavier said two or three of his friends were still missing several hours after the fire.

By late Thursday, mourners had gathered near the destroyed bar, leaving candles and flowers at an improvised memorial. Hundreds more attended a prayer service at the nearby Church of Montana-Station, seeking solace as the scale of the tragedy became clear.

On Friday, Pope Leo sent a telegram to the bishop of Sion, offering condolences and prayers, asking that “the Lord will welcome the deceased into His abode of peace and light, and will sustain the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies”.

On Instagram, an account began filling with photographs of people who remained unaccounted for, as friends and relatives posted desperate appeals for information about the missing.

While investigators continue to examine the precise sequence of events, authorities have begun piecing together how the celebration turned fatal. “We have numerous accounts of heroic actions, one could say, of very strong solidarity in the moment,” Mathias Reynard, head of the Valais regional government, told RTS radio on Friday.

While praising emergency services for their response, Reynard stressed that ordinary citizens — many of them young people — played a decisive role in saving lives during the critical first moments. “But in the first minutes,” he said, “it was citizens — and in large part young people — who saved lives with their courage.”

Clavier said he did not witness the moment the fire began, but recalled seeing waitresses enter the bar carrying Champagne bottles topped with burning sparklers.

Two women who were inside the venue told French broadcaster BFMTV that they saw a male bartender lift a female colleague onto his shoulders as she held a bottle with a lit candle or flare. According to their account, the flames quickly spread to the wooden ceiling, which then collapsed.

One of the women described scenes of panic as the crowd surged toward the exits, with people attempting to flee from a basement nightclub, scrambling up a flight of stairs and trying to force their way through a narrow doorway.

Another witness told BFMTV that windows were smashed as people tried to escape, with some emerging gravely injured. She also described distraught parents racing to the scene in cars, fearing their children might still be trapped inside.

Gianni Campolo, a 19-year-old Swiss national vacationing in Crans-Montana, said he rushed to the bar to assist first responders after receiving a call from a friend who had escaped the inferno. He described seeing people lying on the ground, badly burned and severely injured.

“I have seen horror and I don’t know what else would be worse than this,” Campolo told TF1.

The severity of the burns, authorities said, has made identifying victims extremely difficult. Families have been asked to provide DNA samples, compounding their anguish. In several cases, wallets and identity documents were completely destroyed in the fire.

Among those listed as missing was Emanuele Galeppini, a 17-year-old Italian golfer regarded as a rising talent who had competed internationally. His uncle, Sebastiano Galeppini, told Italian news agency ANSA that the family was awaiting DNA confirmation, even as the Italian Golf Federation announced on its website that the teenager had died.

Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said 13 Italian citizens were injured in the fire and that six remained missing by midday Friday. Galeppini’s name appeared on the official list of missing persons.

As tourists continue to crowd the surrounding ski slopes, authorities have urged residents and visitors to exercise caution in the coming days, warning that any further accidents could overwhelm already strained medical facilities.

Nestled in the heart of the Valais Alps, with ski runs rising to nearly 3,000 metres amid snow-covered peaks and pine forests, Crans-Montana is one of the most prominent venues on the World Cup ski circuit.

The resort is scheduled to host the world’s top men’s and women’s downhill racers — including Lindsey Vonn — in their final competitions ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February. The town is also home to the Crans-sur-Sierre golf club, which hosts the European Masters each August on one of the continent’s most scenic courses.

For now, however, the resort known for celebration and sport is mourning — as investigators work to determine how a New Year’s Eve tradition ended in catastrophe.

With AP/PTI inputs