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Survivors of the catastrophic bar fire in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are receiving treatment in special burns units in various European nations, while investigators report many of the deceased were so badly burned that identification could take days or weeks.

A Calamity of Unprecedented Proportions

About 40 people were killed and 115 hurt when the inferno ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the packed Constellation bar and underground club.

“Our primary goal is to put names to all the victims,” said local official Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, described the fire “a calamity of unprecedented, horrifying proportions” as he described the devastating toll. “Beyond these numbers are faces, names, families, lives brutally cut short, completely interrupted or for ever changed,” Parmelin said at a press briefing.

Gruelling Identification Process

So severe were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said identification work was exceptionally difficult. Families of missing youths issued urgent appeals for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies worked urgently to determine if their citizens were among those involved in one of the worst disasters to strike modern Switzerland.

A regional leader, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said forensic specialists were using dental charts and DNA samples for the task. “All this work needs to be done because the findings is so distressing and delicate that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he explained.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Even with one of the world’s most sophisticated healthcare networks, Switzerland’s local hospitals quickly became overwhelmed in the hours after the blaze. More than 30 people were taken to hospitals with dedicated burn centers in Zurich and Lausanne and six were flown to Geneva, as reported by news agencies.

A significant number of the injured were flown to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU confirmed it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, stated online he had offered his country’s assistance as clinics in Paris and Lyon admitted victims, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had hospital beds available.

International Victims

Italy and France are among the countries that have said a number of their citizens are unaccounted for and Italy’s diplomatic representative to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would visit Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said approximately 40 people were killed but another nation has put the death toll at 47, based on preliminary information.

A regional health and safety official expressed surprise on Friday he was “surprised” by the higher number. “This is not the same number that we have,” he told a radio station.

The Italian ambassador said the majority of the injured had now been named. A number of Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Some victims were returned home on Thursday with more to follow.

The French foreign ministry said nine French citizens were among the injured and additional individuals remained missing. Australia has said one of its nationals was injured.

Desperate Search for Loved Ones

Loved ones have been working desperately to find their loved ones, using online platforms to share images of those still missing.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen resident in the area for 24 years, said his son and his girlfriend just avoided being in the bar at the time of the fire. “When he came home he was really in shock,” Martins told reporters.

A friend of his 17-year-old son had been evacuated for treatment in Germany with his body 30% covered in burns, Martins added.

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a frantic search for friends who have been unheard from since the fire. Standing outside the bar, now shielded by white tarpaulins and a barrier of temporary barriers, she said she had not heard from them since New Year’s Eve.

“We took many pictures [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, every social network possible to try to find them,” she said. “But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. No information. Even the parents haven't heard anything.”

She and a friend managed to get news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Long Road to Recovery

The director of the city’s teaching hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 badly burned patients, most between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being medically stabilized and moved to the operating theatre or to intensive care units,” she informed a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the medical care will be long and intense, lasting several weeks or even months.”