Youngest victim 16
Crans-Montana: People ran out of the bar on fire
Eyewitnesses compare the inferno in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana to "scenes like a war": as things stand, 40 people have died after an explosion in a bar. Several of the 115 injured had to be taken to a special clinic, the youngest victim was probably only 16 years old.
After the explosion in the bar, burning people ran out of the building and some lay motionless on the floor, according to an eyewitness. It was "scenes like in a war", the young man told the Swiss newspaper "Tages-Anzeiger". He had arrived at the bar a few minutes after the explosion.
According to official figures, 40 people lost their lives in the accident. Around 115 other people were injured, most of them seriously, said the commander of the Valais cantonal police, Frédéric Gisler. More than a dozen accident victims were taken to the University Hospital in Zurich, which specializes in burn injuries. Others are likely to follow, a hospital spokesperson told the Keystone-SDA news agency. The University Hospital of Lausanne is currently treating 22 burn victims; according to RTS, the youngest victim there is only 16 years old.
According to the authorities, some of the victims are most likely from abroad. They did not provide any further details for the time being, citing the ongoing investigation and out of consideration for the families concerned. According to the Foreign Ministry, no Austrians were among the victims.
According to media reports, there were around 200 people in the bar, including many minors. Witnesses told the Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera" that a "New Year's Eve party for under-17s" was taking place in the bar.
Videos purporting to show scenes of the tragedy are circulating on social media:
"Absolute panic" after explosion
"Absolute panic" broke out inside the bar after the explosion and people were screaming, several young women told French broadcaster BFMTV. The exit was too narrow for the crowd, according to several media outlets. According to Blick, guests are said to have smashed windows in their distress. "At first we thought it was fireworks. Then we saw people screaming and panicking," a local resident told Swiss broadcaster SRF.
Authorities in Valais spoke of a so-called flashover, the sudden transition from a localized fire to a full-blown blaze. This suddenly spreading fire triggered one or more explosions. Survival is hardly possible. The situation is life-threatening, even for equipped firefighters.
Cause not yet clear
It is not yet fully clear what caused the explosion and subsequent fire. Two women told BFMTV that there were candles on champagne bottles in the bar. One of the bottles had come too close to the wooden ceiling, which then burst into flames. The fire spread through the bar within seconds. Another witness told "24heures" that there were fireworks on the bottles.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.