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Survivors of the devastating nightclub blaze in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in special burns units across Europe, while authorities say many of the dead were so severely injured that identification could take days or weeks.

A Tragedy of Terrifying Scale

Approximately 40 people were killed and 115 hurt when the blaze ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the crowded Constellation bar and basement nightclub.

“Our primary goal is to assign names to all the bodies,” said Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a disaster of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” as he outlined the heavy human cost. “Beyond these numbers are individuals, names, families, lives tragically ended, completely interrupted or for ever changed,” Parmelin remarked at a news conference.

Gruelling Identification Process

So severe were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said identification work was particularly gruelling. Families of missing youths issued pleas for news of their family members and foreign embassies scrambled to find out if their nationals were among those caught up in one of the worst disasters 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 terrible and sensitive that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he explained.

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. More than 30 people were taken to hospitals with specialised burns units in Zurich and Lausanne and six were flown to Geneva, as reported by news agencies.

Many more of the injured were transported to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU confirmed it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about offering support.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, stated online he had offered his country’s help as clinics in Paris and Lyon took in patients, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had hospital beds available.

A Multinational Tragedy

Italy and France are among the countries that have said a number of their citizens are unaccounted for and Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would travel to 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 “taken aback” by the higher number. “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. A number of 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 nine French citizens were among the injured and eight others remained unaccounted for. Australia has said a citizen was hurt.

Desperate Search for Loved Ones

Relatives and friends have been scrambling to find their missing family members, using online platforms to circulate photos of those unaccounted for.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen resident in the area for 24 years, said his son and his girlfriend just avoided being in the bar at the time of the fire. “When he came home he was deeply traumatized,” Martins told reporters.

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

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

“We took many pictures [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, all possible platforms to try to find them,” she said. “But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. No information. 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 university hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 severely injured patients, most between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being stabilised and moved 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 many months.”