Bodies of first foreign victims repatriated after 40 people died in fire at New Year’s Eve party in Crans-Montana
Bodies of first foreign victims repatriated after 40 people died in fire at New Year’s Eve party in Crans-Montana
All 116 people injured in the fire that tore through a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana during a New Year’s Eve party, killing 40 mostly young partygoers, have been identified, police have said, as the bodies of the first foreign victims were repatriated.
Police in Valais canton said in a statement on Monday they had revised the number of wounded down from 119 because three people admitted to accident and emergency wards on Thursday morning had been wrongly recorded as injured in the blaze.
Authorities believe the fire in the crowded Le Constellation bar started in the basement after sparklers attached to champagne bottles were held too close to the ceiling, which images on social media suggest was clad with soundproofing foam.
Among the injured were 68 Swiss citizens, 21 French, 10 Italians, four Serbs and four dual nationals, police said, as well as two Poles and one person each from seven other countries. Eighty-three people were still in hospital being treated for severe burns.
The last of the 40 people who died in the fire – who included 21 Swiss nationals, nine French citizens including two with dual nationality, six Italians, and one person each from Belgium, Portugal, Romania and Turkey – were identified on Sunday.
