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Those who escaped of the catastrophic bar fire in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are receiving treatment in specialized trauma centers across Europe, while investigators say many of the dead were so severely injured that identification could take an extended period.

A Tragedy of Terrifying Scale

Approximately 40 people were lost their lives and 115 injured when the blaze ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the packed Constellation bar and underground club.

“The first objective is to put names to all the victims,” stated local official Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, described the fire “a calamity of unparalleled, horrifying proportions” as he outlined the heavy human cost. “Behind these figures are faces, names, families, lives brutally cut short, completely interrupted or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin said at a press briefing.

Challenging Task of Naming Victims

So severe were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said identification work was particularly gruelling. Parents of missing youths issued pleas for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies worked urgently to find out 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 experts were using dental charts and DNA samples for the task. “All this work needs to be done because the information is so distressing and delicate that nothing can be told to the families unless we are completely certain,” he explained.

Overwhelmed Medical Systems

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 specialised burns units in Zurich and Lausanne and six were transferred to Geneva, according to news agencies.

Many more 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 offering support.

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

International Victims

Italy and France are among the countries that have said some of their nationals are missing and Italy’s diplomatic representative to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would travel to Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said about 40 people were killed but a foreign government has put the death toll at 47, based on early data.

A regional health and safety official expressed surprise on Friday he was “surprised” by the higher number. “This is not the same number that we have,” he told a radio station.

The Italian ambassador said all but five of the injured had now been identified. A number of Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Three Italians 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

Loved ones have been working desperately to find their loved ones, using online platforms to share images 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 deeply traumatized,” Martins said.

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

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a frantic search for friends who have been missing since the fire. Standing outside the bar, now shielded by white tarpaulins and a barrier of temporary barriers, she said she had not heard from 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 explained. “But there’s no news. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents haven't heard anything.”

She and a friend later received news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Long Road to Recovery

The director of the city’s teaching hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 badly burned patients, most between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being medically stabilized and moved to the operating theatre 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 many months.”