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Survivors of the devastating nightclub blaze in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are receiving treatment in special burns units in various European nations, while authorities report many of the dead were so severely injured that identification could take an extended period.

A Calamity of Unprecedented Proportions

Approximately 40 people were killed and 115 injured when the inferno ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the crowded Constellation bar and underground club.

“The first objective is to assign names to all the victims,” said Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, described the fire “a disaster of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” as he outlined the heavy human cost. “Beyond these numbers are faces, names, families, lives brutally cut short, forever altered or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin remarked at a news conference.

Challenging Task of Naming Victims

So severe were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said the process of identification was particularly gruelling. Parents of missing youths issued pleas for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies worked urgently to determine if their nationals were among those involved in one of the worst tragedies to strike the country in recent memory.

Mathias Reynard, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said forensic specialists were using dental records and DNA samples for the solemn duty. “All this work needs to be done because the findings is so terrible and delicate that no detail can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he said.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Even with one of the world’s most sophisticated healthcare networks, Switzerland’s regional clinics quickly reached capacity in the hours after the blaze. Over 30 people were taken to hospitals with dedicated burn centers in Zurich and Lausanne and six were transferred to Geneva, according to news agencies.

A significant number of the injured were transported to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU said it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he had offered his country’s help as clinics in Paris and Lyon admitted victims, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had medical capacity available.

International Victims

Italy and France are among the countries that have said a number of their citizens are missing and Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would visit Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said approximately 40 people were killed but another nation has put the fatality count at 47, based on early data.

A regional health and safety official said on Friday he was “surprised” by the latter figure. “This is not the same number that we have,” he told a media outlet.

The Italian ambassador said all but five of the injured had now been identified. Several Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Some victims were returned home on Thursday with more to follow.

The French foreign ministry said several nationals were among the injured and eight others remained unaccounted for. Australia has said a citizen was injured.

Desperate Search for Loved Ones

Relatives and friends have been scrambling to find their missing family members, using social media to circulate photos of those still missing.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen resident in the area for 24 years, said his son and his girlfriend narrowly missed being in the bar at the time of the fire. “When he came home he was really in shock,” Martins said.

A friend of his 17-year-old son had been evacuated for treatment in Germany with his body 30% covered in burns, Martins added.

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a desperate hunt for friends who have been missing since the fire. Outside the bar, now covered by white tarpaulins and a barrier of temporary barriers, she said she had not had contact with them since New Year’s Eve.

“We took loads of photos [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, every social network possible to try to find them,” she said. “But there’s no news. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents haven't heard anything.”

She and a friend managed to get news that one friend was in a medically induced unconsciousness in a hospital in Lausanne.

Long Road to Recovery

The director of the city’s university hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 severely injured patients, most between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being medically stabilized and transferred to the surgery or to specialised beds,” she told a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the medical care will be long and intense, lasting many weeks or even months.”