About 40 people are believed to have been killed and 115 injured after a fire tore through a crowded bar during a New Year's Eve party in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana. Swiss police confirmed several dozen partygoers were dead, with the blaze thought to be accidental.
The fire started at about 1.30am local time in a bar called Le Constellation, which is popular with tourists. A police spokesperson said more than 100 people were in the building. Witnesses described a bartender carrying a female staff member who was holding a lit candle in a champagne bottle, which set fire to a wooden ceiling.
Panicked revellers broke windows to escape, and some were trapped in a basement nightclub accessed by a narrow staircase. One witness likened the scene to a horror movie. The prosecutor said authorities were not considering an attack and had opened a full investigation.
Patients were taken to hospitals in Sion, Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich. The president of the Valais canton said what should have been a moment of celebration 'turned into a nightmare'.
