A lethal fire broke out during a New Year’s Eve celebration at Le Constellation, a ski resort bar, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, that claimed the lives of 40 individuals and injured hundreds.
Initially, witnesses suspected that the fire was started because of “a birthday candle, which was very close to the ceiling,” one person revealed, adding that the ceiling was set ablaze a couple of minutes later.
Highlights
- A lethal New Year’s Eve fire in a Swiss ski resort was initially speculated to have been started by a birthday candle.
- New photos from the incident revealed that champagne bottles topped with sparklers may have started the fire that claimed 40 lives.
- Survivors shared harrowing details of the incident, with one teenager witnessing a completely burned victim.
However, a new photo from the resort bar has now revealed the exact cause of the fire, confirming initial speculations.
A haunting new photo revealed how the Swiss ski resort bar caught fire on New Year’s Eve
Image credits: marcelvandenber
On Friday (December 2), Beatrice Pilloud, Valais attorney general, revealed that the officials were pursuing several hypotheses to determine what caused the fire. After analyzing several videos and interviews, the authorities speculated that sparklers close to the ceiling may have caused the devastating fire.
Image credits: derspiegel
“We currently assume that the fire was caused by sparklers attached to champagne bottles that came too close to the ceiling,” she said.
Image credits: derspiegel
A new photo reportedly verified by the BBC appears to confirm the hypothesis. In the photo, flames can be seen spreading over the ceiling of the bar's basement floor.
The resulting sparks allegedly made contact with the soundproof foam covering the ceiling.
Image credits: TonyTruant01
Meanwhile, people partying below were waving their champagne bottles topped with sparklers, including a woman in a crash helmet, who was close to the ceiling while another masked man carried her on his shoulders.
Image credits: TonyTruant01
The fire reportedly triggered a “flashover,” which ignited everything combustible in the room.
However, some netizens criticized the people in the bar for recording the fire instead of escaping. “When the fire started, they all pulled out phones and started recording instead of running,” one social media user said, reacting to the images.
Officials continued the investigation as identifying and treating the victims remained a challenge
Image credits: webnotitarde
Swiss authorities are yet to officially determine the cause, with Pilloud revealing that the investigation would next focus on examining the materials used in the bar, the operating permits, and safety measures.
Image credits: webnotitarde
Valais Canton Police commander Frédéric Gisler confirmed on Friday that 113 of the 119 injured people of multiple nationalities had been formally identified, including 71 Swiss citizens.
Officials were using the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI), a multi-agency collaboration, to identify an unknown victim.
Image credits: ferozwala
“For the time being, we don’t have any suspects,” Pilloud shared with the media. She added that the investigation was primarily launched “to better understand the circumstances of this dramatic fire.”
On the night of the incident, 55 people with "severe injuries" were reportedly taken to the Valais Hospital. Twenty-eight were later transferred to other hospitals, with 22 people receiving treatment at a hospital in Lausanne.
Survivors revealed the harrowing aftermath of the ski resort bar fire
Image credits: catsnmouse
Several survivors shared their accounts of the incident, with one person sharing that there was only one narrow way out of the room. As a result, some individuals were allegedly trapped and suffocated by the fumes.
“The staircase leading out of the nightclub was extremely narrow. There was a huge surge in the crowd. We managed to escape just in time,” a witness shared.
Another individual said, “I saw people burning from head to foot, no clothes anymore. It was very shocking.”
Ferdinand Du Beaudiez, a 19-year-old student who was reportedly partying at Le Constellation, initially made it out of the fire unscathed. However, he went back into the fire to rescue his brother and girlfriend, only to find a “completely burned” victim.
“I couldn’t recognize whether it was a woman or a man. I could only see teeth,” the teenager said. Ferdinand rescued the victim, while his brother was eventually saved by authorities but remains in a coma.
"People recording instead of escaping." Netizens shared divisive reactions to the photos
