An anguished mother has spoken of her desperate search for her teenage son, who is missing along with nine of his friends following the New Year fire disaster in Switzerland. Laetitia Brodard has not seen her 16-year-old son, Arthur, since he visited Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Valais, to celebrate New Year's Eve. At least 47 people are feared dead and hundreds injured after sparklers inside champagne bottles appeared to ignite the venue's basement ceiling.
Ms Brodard told BFMTV: 'I've been looking for Arthur for more than 30 hours, but there's no news. It's an unbearable wait. I won't stop searching, I won't give up, to know if my son is alive or if he's gone to the other side.' She added that Arthur and his school friends had booked a table at the bar, but only one of the 11 has been found.
The fire is believed to have started at around 1.30am on New Year's Day. Ms Brodard said: 'He was looking forward to celebrating New Year's Eve with his school friends at the resort and in this bar. They had made plans and reserved a table in advance. Of the 11 people at that table, only one has been found, and all the others are missing.' She expressed frustration with the Swiss authorities, saying they cannot answer questions because they do not know anything.
Ms Brodard has filed a missing person report and is gathering videos and photos from the evening to try to find her son. She defended allowing her 16-year-old to go out, saying: 'We're not irresponsible parents for letting our children, aged 16 and up, go out to celebrate the New Year. We're in a ski resort. Here, people of all ages celebrate the New Year.'
The blaze engulfed the crowded basement and travelled up narrow wooden stairs, causing explosions so loud that residents feared a terror attack. Survivors described people burning after being overcome by smoke. Swiss officials said it could take days to identify all victims. The first named victim was 17-year-old Italian golfer Emanuele Galeppini. Swiss President Guy Parmelin described the inferno as 'one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced'.
