Overview
- An explosion around 1:30 a.m. at Le Constellation in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana triggered a fast-moving fire in a basement venue with over 100 people inside.
- Officials have ruled out a terrorist attack and opened a criminal inquiry into the fire’s origin, with witness accounts pointing to champagne sparklers or similar pyrotechnics as a leading hypothesis.
- Hospitals in Valais reached capacity and patients were transferred to facilities in Sion, Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich, with additional support and transfers arranged to neighboring countries.
- Identification of victims is expected to take days, including DNA analysis, and authorities say foreigners are likely among the dead and injured as consular services from Italy and France assist families.
- Switzerland declared five days of national mourning as President Guy Parmelin called the disaster one of the country’s worst tragedies, while police secured the site and imposed a local no-fly zone.