A time of celebration has become a nightmarepublished at 13:37 GMT
13:37 GMT
Imogen Foulkes
Reporting from Geneva
We’ve been hearing more about from the Swiss authorities about the catastrophic fire in Crans Montana. A team of specialist forensic investigators from Zurich is now at the scene.
Initial evidence does not suggest an attack, the authorities have said, but a rapidly spreading or “flash over” fire, in which anything combustible ignites very quickly.
Finding out exactly how the fire started, and why so many people died, is a matter of urgency.
So too is identifying the victims; the Swiss police say “dozens” are believed to have died, among them tourists, and very many of them young.
Crans Montana’s le Constellation Bar is popular with 16 – 25 year olds, who will have been out enjoying the start of 2026.
Meanwhile more than 100 injured have been transported to hospitals across Switzerland.
In a sign of how serious this incident is, the authorities have appealed to people across the country not to overburden the health service, because emergency wards, and in particular the burns units, are full.
As one emergency worker put it: a time of celebration has become a nightmare.
Image source, Reuters