Swiss authorities have confirmed the identities of 16 more victims of the devastating New Year's Day fire at a ski resort bar, revealing a 14-year-old girl as the tragedy's youngest known casualty.
New Details Emerge in Alpine Tragedy
The inferno at the Le Constellation bar in the upscale village of Crans-Montana claimed 40 lives in total. It erupted minutes after midnight as celebrations were underway, with police stating sparklers ignited foam soundproofing on the ceiling, causing the blaze to rapidly take hold.
Valais Cantonal Police announced that the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team and the Institute of Legal Medicine have now formally identified 24 of those killed. The latest batch of 16 names includes nine children under the age of 18.
Victims' Nationalities and Ages
A police spokesperson provided a breakdown of the newly identified victims:
- Four Swiss women, aged 18, 15, 15, and 14.
- Six Swiss men, aged 31, 20, 18, 17, 16, and 16.
- Two Italian nationals, both aged 16.
- A 16-year-old dual national of Italy and the United Arab Emirates.
- An 18-year-old Romanian national.
- A 39-year-old Frenchman.
- An 18-year-old Turkish man.
These join eight victims identified earlier, which included Swiss nationals aged 16, 18, 21, 22, and 24. Investigations continue to name the 16 remaining victims. Out of respect for their families, police have withheld further details on these latest identifications.
Families' Agonising Wait for News
The harrowing human impact of the disaster continues to unfold as families desperately seek information. Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, 42, spent hours searching for her missing 16-year-old son, Arthur, showing his photo on her phone to anyone who might have seen him.
She revealed he had been excited to celebrate with school friends at Le Constellation, where they had pre-booked a table for 11. "Of the 11 people at that table only one has been found, and all the others are missing," she said.
In a poignant detail, she shared the final message from her son, sent from the bar at midnight: "Happy New Year, mum." She responded with her own greeting, unaware of the horror about to unfold. "My son is alone in a hospital, if he’s alive. Even if he’s in a morgue... I don’t know which morgue, I can’t be by his side," she added.
At the scene of the tragedy, grieving families and locals have gathered to lay floral tributes and light candles in memory of the 40 lives lost.
