Massacre in Switzerland, the fire and the desperate escape: the causes of the fire

The exit door too small for escape

There were reportedly around 200 people inside the bar, including numerous minors. The only exit was too small, so customers broke a window. Several people were injured and emergency services arrived quickly. At the University Hospital of Lausanne, 22 burn victims are currently being treated, a spokeswoman for the Vaud hospital told Keystone-Sda. According to RTS, the youngest victim was 16 years old. They were flown by helicopter to Lausanne after the Crans-Montana fire. The victims are hospitalized at the burns center at Lausanne University Hospital in western Switzerland, as well as in intensive care units for adults and children.

The University Hospital of Zurich, which specializes in burns, has admitted over a dozen burn victims from Crans-Montana. A spokeswoman said more were expected to follow and they would be airlifted by helicopter. In Switzerland there are two centers specialized in injuries of this type: the university hospitals of Zurich and Lausanne. Following the devastating fire at the “Le Constellation” bar, local residents described dramatic scenes. According to the newspaper “24heures”, people remained in the streets stunned, sirens sounded and helicopters flew over all night. Many young customers were inside the bar.

The testimonies

As a London tourist told a Blick journalist, there were many fireworks during the night, even though they were banned. “Then at a certain point there was a very loud explosion. After that, I heard several ambulances,” the man said. The explosion in the basement of the bar was not a terrorist attack, however. The Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud explicitly underlined this: “An attack can be absolutely ruled out”. Meanwhile, investigations into the causes of the explosion and subsequent fire are underway. Authorities confirmed in a news conference that several dozen people died and at least 100 were injured in the disaster.