Swiss authorities on Friday began the grim task of identifying the mostly young victims of a deadly New Year’s Eve bar fire that killed around 40 people and injured 119 revelers at a ski resort in Crans-Montana.
It appears the fire started from sparkler candles, which were placed on top of champagne bottles and were taken too close to the ceiling during bottle service, Valais Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud said at a press conference on Friday. The flames triggered a violent ignition of combustible gases known as a flashover, causing the flames to spread suddenly and violently, Pilloud said.
"We will be able to investigate whether any individuals bear criminal liability for this incident," Pilloud said. "And if this is the case and if these people are alive, all the investigations will be opened for fire by negligence, homicide by negligence and injuries by negligence."
Italian authorities said the death toll could be as high as 47, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Crans-Montana on Friday and laid flowers.
The number of Italians involved in the incident currently stands at 19, according to the from Paris who survived the blaze, described "total chaos" inside the bar. One of his friends died and "two or three were missing," he told the outlet.
Clavier said he did not see the fire start but recalled waitresses entering the room carrying Champagne bottles topped with sparklers shortly before the blaze erupted.
Another witness told BFMTV that people smashed windows to escape the flames. Panicked parents rushed to the scene to see whether their children were trapped inside.
Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims from multiple countries, officials said. Hospitals were quickly overwhelmed, with intensive care units and operating theaters reaching capacity.
Swiss authorities later said the burn unit in Valais was full, and that Italy made a major burns unit in Milan available to treat the injured.
By Friday, mourners had begun leaving flowers and candles at a makeshift memorial near the cordoned-off bar as the resort town struggled to absorb the scale of the tragedy.
Fox News' Bradford Betz, Greg Norman, Emma Bussey, as well as The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.