Swiss police have confirmed the identification of all 40 victims of the New Year's Eve fire at a bar in Crans-Montana, one of the country's worst disasters in recent history. The final 16 victims were named on Sunday, including 15-year-old British schoolgirl Charlotte Niddam, a former pupil at Immanuel College in Hertfordshire.
The victims ranged in age from 14 to 33 and included nationals from Switzerland, France, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, and the UK. Among the last identified were two Swiss girls aged 15, an Italian boy aged 16, and a 14-year-old French boy. Charlotte Niddam, who had been working as a babysitter in the resort, was described by her family as a 'beautiful daughter and sister'. Her funeral is expected to take place in Paris this week.
Hundreds of people joined a silent procession through the resort town on Sunday to honour the dead. After a service at the Chapelle St-Christophe, mourners filed silently to the site of the Le Constellation bar, where a makeshift memorial of flowers and tributes has been created. Emergency services workers were applauded as heroes during the march.
Investigators believe the fire was caused by sparkling candles held too close to the ceiling of the basement venue. The region's chief prosecutor stated that the blaze spread rapidly, causing horrific burns that made forensic identification slow. Switzerland will hold a national day of mourning on Friday, with church bells ringing and a minute's silence observed across the country.
Local residents have called for improved safety checks in bars, with one 80-year-old Italian expressing dismay that proper inspections were not carried out. The bishop of the region, Jean-Marie Lovey, read a message of condolence from Pope Leo XIV, who expressed his compassion for the victims' families. The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, urged the nation to remember the victims in a moment of reflection.
