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Survivors of the devastating nightclub blaze in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in specialized trauma centers in various European nations, while authorities say many of the dead were so severely injured that identification could take days or weeks.

A Calamity of Unprecedented Proportions

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

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

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a disaster of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” as he described the heavy human cost. “Beyond these numbers are individuals, names, families, lives brutally cut short, completely interrupted or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin remarked at a press briefing.

Challenging Task of Naming Victims

So severe were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said the process of identification was particularly gruelling. Families of unaccounted-for young people issued pleas for news of their family members and foreign embassies worked urgently to determine if their citizens were among those caught up in one of the worst tragedies to strike the country in recent memory.

A regional leader, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said forensic specialists were using dental charts and DNA samples for the task. “All this work needs to be done because the findings is so terrible and delicate that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he explained.

Overwhelmed Medical Systems

Despite having one of the world’s most advanced medical systems, Switzerland’s local hospitals quickly reached capacity in the hours after the fire. More than 30 people were taken to hospitals with specialised burns units in Zurich and Lausanne and six were transferred 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 said 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 admitted victims, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had hospital beds available.

International Victims

Italy and France are among the countries that have said some of their nationals are missing and Italy’s diplomatic representative to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would travel to Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said about 40 people were killed but another nation has put the death toll 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 the majority of the injured had now been named. Several Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Some victims 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 hurt.

Families in Anguish

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

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 really in shock,” Martins told reporters.

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

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 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, every social network possible 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 managed to get news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Treatment Will Be Lengthy

The director of the city’s teaching hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 severely injured patients, most between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being medically stabilized and transferred to the surgery or to intensive care units,” she informed a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the treatment will be protracted and demanding, lasting several weeks or even months.”