Swiss | Pakistan

Investigators raced on Friday to identify the victims of a fire that ripped through a bar in the Swiss Alps town of Crans-Montana, turning a New Year’s celebration into one of the country’s worst tragedies. It is not yet clear what set off the blaze at Le Constellation, killing around 40 people and injuring about 115 others, many seriously. Bystanders described scenes of panic and chaos as people tried to break the windows to escape and others, covered in burns, poured into the street. Swiss police warned it could take days or even weeks to identify everyone who perished, leaving an agonising wait for family and friends. “We’ve tried to reach our friends. We took loads of photos and posted them on Instagram, Facebook, all possible social networks to try to find them,” said Eleonore, 17. “But there’s nothing. No response.” “Even the parents don’t know,” she added. The exact number of people who were at the bar when it went up in flames remains unclear, and police have not specified how many are still missing. ...

Dozens of people were killed and around 100 injured, most of them seriously, after fire tore through a crowded bar during a New Year’s Eve party in the upscale Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, officials said on Thursday. Fire broke out at 1.30am in a bar called “Le Constellation” in the resort in southwestern Switzerland, which locals said was popular with teenagers. The cause of the blaze, which was initially reported as an explosion, remains unclear but authorities said it appeared to be an accident rather than an attack. Swiss police said “tens” of people were presumed dead, with around 100 injured, and the Italian foreign ministry said information from Swiss police indicated about 40 deaths. Swiss officials declined to give a specific figure. View this post on Instagram “There were people screaming, and then people lying on the ground, probably dead,” said 21-year-old local Samuel Rapp, who saw the aftermath of the fire. “They had jackets over their faces, thats what I saw, nothing more.” Ceiling caught...

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