As the identity of the first victim of the catastrophic fire that ravaged in a bar in Crans-Montana is released, Swiss police are continuing their work to identify other victims, with the death toll standing at 40.
Swiss investigators raced Friday to identify victims of a ski resort fire at a New Year’s celebration that killed some 40 people and injured 119 more, in one of the country’s worst tragedies.
Authorities on Friday began moving the bodies of victims of a fire that ripped through the crowded bar in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
The first victim identified on January 2nd was Emanuele Galeppini, 17, a promising Italian golfer from Genoa.
In all, of the 119 people injured, 113 have been identified. Among them, 71 are Swiss nationals. 14 are French, 11 Italian, 4 Serbian, 1 Bosnian, 1 Belgian, 1 Luxembourger, 1 Portuguese, and 1 Polish. The nationality of 14 others – as well as the ones who died – remains unknown.
‘Top priority’
Valais Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud stated at a press conference that “considerable resources have been allocated for identification.”
She added that this task is proving difficult “but is our top priority.”
Swiss authorities have warned that naming the victims or establishing a definitive death toll would take time because many of the bodies were badly burned.
“All this work needs to be done because the information is so terrible and sensitive that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100 percent sure,” Mathias Reynard, head of government of the canton of Valais told Reuters.
Experts are using dental and DNA samples to identify the victims, he said.
And, there are expected to be other foreigners among the casualties.
“Crans-Montana is a tourist destination. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that foreign nationals are among the victims,” according to police spokesperson Frédéric Gisler.
And Stéphane Ganzer, a member of the Valais cantonal government, said: “You can imagine that there are many young people [from other countries] in a ski resort over New Year’s.”
Advertisement
How many victims are there to date?
The latest number is 40 dead and 119 injured.
However, authorities said the number of fatalities is likely to increase, as people with third-degree burns covering about 15 percent of their body surface have an increased risk of dying in the hours and days following the accident.
The injured were taken to various hospitals.
The Valais Hospital in capital Sion has activated its disaster plan; its intensive care units and operating rooms are reportedly at full capacity, according to broadcaster SRF.
The University Hospital in Zurich, which specialises in burn injuries, has admitted over a dozen burn victims. Specialist teams are also deployed at CHUV in Lausanne.
“These are young patients. On average, they are between 16 and 26 years old,” a CHUV spokesperson said, adding that “their treatment will take weeks, if not months.”
Advertisement
Medical care abroad
According to the latest information released by the French Foreign Ministry, eight more people will be treated in France, in addition to the three already transferred to hospitals in Lyon and Paris.
The arrival of these patients in France “is at the request of the Swiss Confederation in order to relieve the pressure on the local healthcare system” and because “the capacity to treat severe burns has been overwhelmed in Switzerland.”
France is not the only country receiving victims of this deadly fire. Le Temps reported that one person has been transferred to a hospital in Stuttgart and others have been taken to Milan.
