A fire ripped through a crowded bar in the luxury Swiss ski resort town of Crans-Montana as revellers rang in the New Year, killing and injuring several people, police said early Thursday. A police spokesman named the bar as Le Constellation, which has a capacity of 300 people and another 40 people on its terrace, according to the Crans-Montana website. The spokesman said some 100 people had gathered there for New Year celebrations.
A tourist from New York filmed bright orange flames pouring from the bar, and told AFP he saw people running and screaming in the dark. “Several people lost their lives and others were injured,” the police statement said, describing the incident as “serious” and adding that “a major emergency response is underway”. “A large contingent of police, firefighters, and rescue workers immediately went to the scene to assist the numerous victims,” it said.
Ambulances were still parked outside the bar hours later, and broken windows could be seen. Local media described a “smell of burning still in the air”. Swiss daily Blick cited a doctor at the scene suggesting that the death toll could be in the “dozens”.
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