At least 40 New Year’s revelers have been killed after a massive fire ripped through a bar in the Swiss Alps, police announced Thursday.
The chaotic blaze at the Le Constellation venue in the Alpine ski resort municipality of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, which erupted around 1:30 a.m. local time during a New Year's celebration, also left another 115 injured, many of them seriously, authorities said.
At least 22 of those seriously injured in the fire are between the ages of 16 and 26, according to reports.
"This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare," said Mathias Reynard, head of the regional government.
"Several tens of people" were killed at the bar, blaze likely triggered the release of combustible gases that ignited violently and caused what English-speaking firefighters call a flashover or backdraft, according to The Associated Press.
The Valais Canton attorney general, Beatrice Pilloud, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire, but authorities have ruled out terrorism.
"At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack," Pilloud confirmed according to the Associated Press, before saying the number of people who were in the bar is "currently totally unknown," and adding that the bar's maximum capacity would be part of the investigation.
"For the time being, we don’t have any suspects," she said.
"We're just at the beginning of our investigation, but this is an internationally renowned ski resort with lots of tourists," police spokesperson Gaëtan Lathion confirmed.
Authorities urged local residents and visitors to exercise caution in the coming days to avoid accidents that could further strain emergency medical services during the busy ski season.
The community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, about 25 miles north of the Matterhorn.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin said in a social media post that the government’s "thoughts go to the victims, to the injured and their relatives, to whom it addresses its sincere condolences."
A trainee French footballer, Tahirys Dos Santos, 19, was later reported to be among those injured, his club, FC Metz, announced.
"The entire club unites its thoughts to send them to Tahirys, in these hours when he is battling the suffering," a spokesperson said in a post shared on X.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.