CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland, Jan 3 (Reuters) - When a devastating fire broke out in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana at around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, some New Year’s revellers seemed unsure at first whether to take it seriously.
Le Constellation, a two-storey bar with a glass-enclosed terrace, was still packed with partygoers, many of them teenagers.
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Witnesses reported seeing a staff member, who was sitting on the shoulders of a colleague, carrying bottles with fizzing candle-style sparklers in the basement section shortly before the ceiling caught fire.
A video shared on social media and verified by Reuters shows a young man using his shirt to try to beat back flames that are beginning to form in the ceiling as others record the scene on their phones. Loud music plays in the background.
"We thought it was a joke, or that it wasn't necessarily serious," said Axel Clavier, a teenager who was in the basement with friends when the fire started.
Moments later, there was a huge cloud of black smoke, Clavier told the Swiss news agency Keystone. "We couldn't breathe anymore."
It all happened in seconds, said Julia, a 19-year-old from the Swiss city of Lausanne who did not want to give her last name. Panic ensued.
"People just suddenly started running and walking on top of each other," she told Reuters, fighting back tears. "There was an enormous crowd, and this really small entrance, and it was hard to escape."
She was on the ground floor and escaped with an injured foot. A friend, who was with her, got caught in the flames that tore through from the basement and ended up in hospital with severe burns, she said.
The interior of "Le Constellation" after a fire tore through a crowded New Year’s Eve party. via Valais Canton Police Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
At least 40 people were killed and 119 injured in the inferno, said Swiss officials in the southwestern canton of Valais, an "unprecedented" toll in a resort known for panoramic Alpine views and sporting attractions like skiing and golf.
Initial investigations suggest the blaze started when the so-called fountain candles attached to champagne bottles got too close to the ceiling, local prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud told a news conference on Friday. "From there, a rapid, very rapid and widespread conflagration ensued."
