This was not supposed to happen in Switzerland. In a country where disasters are meant to be engineered out, risk neutralised and failure anticipated, the idea of a crowded bar turning into a death trap feels almost unthinkable. Around 40 people died inside the Constellation bar in Crans Montana on New Year’s Eve, and up to 119 were injured, many suffering serious burns.

Switzerland has become more open and more exposed. It’s also become more complacent

Witnesses describe flames racing across the ceiling within seconds. Systems that were assumed to hold clearly did not and panic set in. The inquiry will take time, but the outline is already visible. The details now emerging are uncomfortably familiar.

Survivors speak of a single, very narrow staircase serving as the main escape route, of people stumbling and falling as others surged behind them, and of the absence of any organised evacuation. The fire spread faster than the crowd could move. Video on social media shows the narrow entrance to the establishment blocked as revellers tried desperately to escape.

Images and survivor accounts suggest a ceiling covered in what appears to be highly flammable acoustic foam, material that has caused catastrophe in similar nightclub fires elsewhere, and which stricter interpretations of fire codes might deem unsuitable. At a press conference on Friday afternoon, the Valais chief prosecutor, Béatrice Pilloud, said investigators believe the fire was very likely triggered by sparklers attached to champagne bottles. Witnesses report the use of sparklers........

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