At the Constellation bar, the transition from euphoria to terror happened in a matter of seconds. In the exclusive Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, chaos manifested itself in the form of flames when the new year party … reached its peak. “Some broke the windows to let air in. I tremble; many cried when leaving. “There was general panic,” Victoria, one of those present, told French news channel BFM about the event which left at least 40 dead and around 100 injured.
It was around 1:30 a.m., the room was packed and eager to party. Dozens of people were in the basement of the premises, with its wooden roof. Waiters brought bottles of champagne with candles or sparklers, some near the ceiling. “A waiter climbed on the shoulders of another waiter,” reports BFM from another witness. And the roof caught fire. “The entire roof was on fire, the fire spread very quickly. It happened in seconds. We fled screaming and crying,” Emma told BFM, who assured that the exit route was very narrow compared to the number of people present. “There was total panic, everyone was screaming,” said Emma and another witness, Albanne.
The two girls assure that firefighters and police They arrived on scene within minutes. “We had flames a meter from us; “If we hadn’t fled, we probably would have been hurt too,” they said. The bar could accommodate up to 300 people and 40 more on its small terrace.
“The party was in full swing… the music and the champagne were flowing freely,” a resident who said he lived nearby told the newspaper ’24 Heures’. With the fireworks display, many residents of the non-district did not understand what was happening. “Then we saw the smoke. “It’s terrible, a lot of young people go to this bar.”
Panic and confusion reigned from the first hours. “Emergency teams – firefighters and police – They arrived at a chaotic scene, a dramatic scene», Explained to the press Stéphane Ganzer, head of security for the canton of Valais, reports Reuters. “I cannot hide from you that we are all shocked by what happened last night in Crans,” also declared the prefect of the cantonal police, Frédéric Gisler, during a press conference.
Comprehensive hospitals
The scenes were then moved to hospitals from Sion, Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich, where the wounded had to be transported. “I saw things that I would have preferred never to see,” a woman who accompanied her mother to Sion hospital told the newspaper “Le Nouvelliste”. “I left quickly to clear access to the emergency room, and then chaos broke out… People were arriving from everywhere, seriously injured people in the cars, there was a smell of burning…”
About The Author
