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Survivors of the catastrophic bar fire in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in specialized trauma centers across Europe, while investigators say many of the dead were so severely injured that naming the victims could take an extended period.

A Calamity of Unprecedented Proportions

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

“The first objective is to assign names to all the victims,” said Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a calamity of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” as he described the devastating toll. “Beyond these numbers are faces, names, families, lives tragically ended, completely interrupted or for ever changed,” Parmelin said at a news conference.

Gruelling Identification Process

Such was the severity were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said the process of identification was exceptionally difficult. Parents of missing youths issued pleas for news of their family members and foreign embassies worked urgently to find out if their citizens 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 solemn duty. “All this work needs to be done because the findings is so terrible and sensitive that no detail can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he said.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Despite having one of the world’s most advanced medical systems, Switzerland’s regional clinics quickly became overwhelmed in the hours after the blaze. Over 30 people were taken to hospitals with dedicated burn centers in Zurich and Lausanne and six were transferred to Geneva, according to news agencies.

Many more of the injured were flown 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, 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 a number of their citizens are missing and Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would visit 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 latter figure. “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 named. Several Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Three Italians were repatriated 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 one of its nationals was injured.

Families in Anguish

Relatives and friends have been scrambling to find their loved ones, using social media to circulate photos of those still missing.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen living 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 told reporters.

A friend of his 17-year-old son had been evacuated for treatment in Germany with severe burns covering a third of his body, Martins added.

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a frantic search for friends who have been unheard from since the fire. Outside the bar, now covered by white tarpaulins and a wall of temporary fencing, 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 no news. 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 teaching hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 badly burned 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 protracted and demanding, lasting several weeks or even many months.”