{"id":223219,"date":"2026-01-02T09:52:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/223219\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T09:52:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:52:07","slug":"i-can-still-see-people-trying-to-get-out-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/223219\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I can still see people trying to … get out\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fire that raged through a bar in a Swiss ski resort <\/a>in the early hours of New Year\u2019s Day has been described as \u201cone of the worst tragedies Switzerland has ever seen\u201d.<\/p>\n

Some 40 people died and another 115 were injured <\/a>after the blaze broke out at the Constellation bar in Crans Montana.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, Switzerland is sad but united by heart, in the pain and determination to understand and protect. To the families of victims, I say: \u2018your pain is ours\u2019,\u201d said Swiss Confederation president Guy Parmelin on Thursday evening. <\/p>\n

Eye witness Alexis Lagger was one of the first on the scene and told Radio T\u00e9l\u00e9vision Suisse (RTS) that a lot of young people were queuing to get into the bar when the flames took over. \u201cI can still see in my mind\u2019s eye people trying to break the windows with tables and chairs to get out. I can recall a man\u2019s shadow inside, running through the flames, and another person outside screaming while burning from head to toe.\u201d<\/p>\n

An investigation has been opened by the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office and Valais cantonal Police is prioritising victim identification. Police have ruled out a terrorist attack and it is believed that \u201ca flashover, or backdraft\u201d, triggered a blast. Witness statements have already been taken, and mobile phones on the scene will be examined for more information. <\/p>\n

The investigation will focus on legal medicine, to hand the bodies of victims back to their families as soon as possible, according to B\u00e9atrice Pilloud, attorney general of the public prosecutors\u2019 office. Ms Pilloud refused to comment further at this time on rumours about the purported narrowness of the stairs between the floors at the bar, the nationality of the bar owners and the origin of the fire being sparkers atop champagne bottles, as per videos circulating on social media. No arrest has yet been made.<\/p>\n

Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Gisler, commander of the cantonal police of Valais, described \u201cwar scenes\u201d as he confirmed about 40 deaths and 115 injuries, most of whom are in a critical condition. The age profile of those caught in the fire is between 15 and 20 years of age. Authorities declined to share any additional information on the nationality of the victims. <\/p>\n

Cmdr Gisler praised the speed of the emergency response and noted that the red alert was called at 1.32am local time and that by 5am all victims were receiving care in several hospitals across Switzerland, from Geneva to Zurich.<\/p>\n

The emergency response was carried out by 150 people, 42 ambulances, 13 helicopters and three disaster trucks. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that identifying bodies will take a terribly long time,\u201d said Mathias Reynard, head of the cantonal government of Valais, who was visibly shaken. \u201cThe light in this darkness is the amount of people who stepped up to help … their professionalism and devotion is exemplary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The atmosphere in Crans Montana was heavy on Thursday night, and people were laying flowers and candles at the site of the fire since the afternoon. There are no known Irish victims. <\/p>\n

Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said on X: \u201cI want to express my shock and sadness at the tragic fire that took place in the early hours of this morning at the ski resort of Crans Montana in Switzerland … Our embassy in Switzerland is continuing to monitor the situation closely and will provide any consular assistance required.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fire that raged through a bar in a Swiss ski resort in the early hours of New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10863,17347,42,6285,43,40,38,10864,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-223219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-bestof","9":"tag-essential","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-horizontal","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topix","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}