Champagne sparklers blamed for inferno that cost 47 lives: Survivors tell of panic to escape Swiss ski bar engulfed by flames in seconds
Families face an agonising wait to find out whether loved ones died in the early hours at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana, south-west Switzerland.
A sparkler in a champagne bottle is believed to have caused a Swiss ski bar inferno that killed at least 47 revellers yesterday.
Families face an agonising wait to find out whether loved ones died in the early hours at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana, south-west Switzerland.
Officials warned it could take days to identify badly burned victims. The Foreign Office is on standby to help any British nationals after rescue chiefs said international citizens were among the dead.
The blaze tore through the basement bar at 1.30am in the elegant resort - once home to James Bond star Sir Roger Moore.
Witnesses said a waitress waved a sparkler in a champagne bottle while sitting on a colleague's shoulders, igniting the ceiling and setting the wood-panelled basement alight.
The blaze spread in seconds, forcing a stampede as more than 100 partygoers, mostly teens and young adults, fought to get up a single, narrow staircase that was the only way out and then get out of the ground floor, which was also engulfed.
Rescuers said that more than 115 survivors were being treated in hospital, many with appalling burns.
Swiss president Guy Parmelin said yesterday it was 'one of the worst tragedies our country has experienced'.
A photo appears to show the moment champagne sparklers set the nightclub on fire
People gathered at the site of the party on New Years Day as part of a vigil
Police officers inspect the area where the fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge
Flowers have been laid out on the street in tribute to those who died
New footage shows the deadly flashover, when extreme heat caused everything inside the enclosed space to ignite almost at once, that left people little chance to flee
People console one another near the Le Constellation bar
King Charles wrote to Mr Parmelin to offer his condolences, saying he and the Queen 'were appalled, and greatly saddened'. He added: 'It is utterly heartbreaking that a night of celebration for young people and families instead turned to such nightmarish tragedy.'
Questions were asked last night as to how the inferno could have happened, with locals claiming sparklers were banned in many venues because of the fire risk.
Jessica Moretti, 40, who owns Le Constellation with her husband Jacques, 49, was inside at the time but escaped with only an injury to her arm. Mr Moretti was in another of the couple's venues.