Crans-Montana, Switzerland (AP) — Sixteen-year-old Arthur Brodard went to Le Constellation bar with friends to celebrate the New Year. Almost 48 hours after the devastating fire, his mother still held out hope that he might be one of the six injured people who remain unaccounted for in one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies.
Those half-dozen people offered a glimmer of hope for families whose loved ones went missing in a fire at an alpine ski resort in Crans-Montana that left 40 dead and 119 injured, 113 of whom have been formally identified.
“I’m looking everywhere. My son’s body is somewhere,” Letitia Brodard of Lausanne, Switzerland, told reporters. “I want to know where my baby is, and be by his side. Wherever he is, whether it’s in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”
The severity of the fire has made it difficult to identify both the injured and the dead, requiring families to provide DNA samples to authorities. In some cases, wallets and any identification documents inside were reduced to ashes in the fire. An Instagram account was filled with photos of the unaccounted for, and friends and relatives begged for tips about their whereabouts.
Valais regional government officials admitted to lingering heartache.
“You will understand that today’s priority is placed on identification, to allow families to begin grieving,” Beatrice Pilwood, attorney general of the Valais region, told reporters at a press conference on Friday.
Matthias Reynard, head of the regional government, added: “We are particularly aware of the difficult hours, of the unbearable aspect of every minute that passes without an answer.”
‘You can’t imagine the pain I saw’
Investigators said Friday that they believe candles lit in champagne bottles as they approached the roof of a bar crowded with New Year’s Eve revelers sparked the deadly fire two hours after midnight Thursday.
“We were getting people out, people were collapsing. We were trying our best to save them, we helped as many as we could, we saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press on Friday in Crans-Montana, describing how he reached a fence to help the injured. “There was a friend of ours: she was struggling to get out, she was all burnt. You cannot imagine the pain I saw.”
Many of the injured were in their teens to 20s, police said. Officials plan to check whether sound-deadening materials on the ceiling comply with regulations and whether candles are permitted for use in the bar.
Officials said they will also look at other safety measures at the premises, including fire extinguishers and escape routes. The region’s top prosecutor warned of possible prosecution if any criminal liability was found.
The wounded came from all over Europe
71 Swiss citizens, 14 French and 11 Italian citizens, including citizens of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland, were injured, said Frederick Giesler, police commander of the Valles region. The nationalities of 14 people are not yet clear.
Emanuele Galeppini, a promising teenage Italian golfer who competed internationally, was officially listed as a missing citizen of Italy. His uncle, Sebastiano Galeppini, told the Italian news agency ANASA that his family was awaiting DNA tests, although the Italian Golf Federation announced his death on its website.
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Dazio reported from Berlin. Associated Press reporters Geir Moulson in Berlin, Graham Dunbar in Geneva, and Nicole Winfield and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this report.
