Dozens dead, around 100 injured in fire at Swiss Alps bar during New Year’s party |
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — Several dozen people were killed and around 100 injured when a fire ripped through a crowded bar early Thursday during a New Year’s celebration in the Swiss Alps, authorities said.
“Several dozen people are presumed to have died,” Frederic Gisler, police commander in the Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland, told reporters. “We are devastated.”
Specific casualty figures were not immediately available from the fire at the Le Constellation bar, a spot popular with tourists in the luxury Swiss ski resort town of Crans-Montana.
Police, firefighters and rescuers rushed to the town, one of the top-ranked ski destinations in Europe.
Injuries were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.
In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, authorities have called on........