Several people injured in fatal fire at Swiss bar remain unidentified
Sixteen-year-old Arthur Brodard went to the Le Constellation bar with friends to celebrate the New Year. Nearly 48 hours after a devastating fire, his mother still held out hope he might be one of the several injured people who remained unidentified after one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies. Those people gave a glimmer of hope for families whose loved ones were missing in the aftermath of the fire at the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana that killed 40 people and injured more than 100 others.
“I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard, from Lausanne, Switzerland, told reporters. “I want to know where my child is and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.” Brodard said she received a message from her son just after midnight saying “Happy New Year, mom, I love you,” and she replied “Happy New Year, big guy, have a good time.” That was their last contact.
The severity of the burns has made it difficult to identify both the injured and deceased, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. In some cases, wallets and any identification documents inside were turned to ash in the flames. An Instagram account has filled up with photos of people who were unaccounted for, and friends and relatives begged for tips about their whereabouts.
A nerve-wracking wait
On Saturday, regional police said the bodies of four victims — a boy and a girl, both aged 16, an 18-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, all of them Swiss citizens — had been identified and handed over to their families. They said the identification of other victims, injured and deceased, was pressing on, and gave no further information.
“It’s a wait that destroys people’s stability,” said Elvira Venturella, an Italian psychologist working with the families of those who were at the bar. “And the more time passes, the more difficult it becomes to accept the uncertainty, not having information.” Swiss officials acknowledged the prolonged heartache.
“The priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region’s attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference. Swiss officials said Friday afternoon that 119 people were injured, 113 of whom had been formally identified.
On Saturday, Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, told reporters he had just been briefed by local authorities that the total number of injured stood at 121, five of whom hadn’t yet been identified. He said 14 Italians were being treated in hospitals. People light candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps in Switzerland.
