GENEVA: Authorities investigating a New Year's blaze in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana have identified 24 of the 40 people killed, including 11 minors and six foreign nationals, police said on Sunday, as its owners were probed for negligent manslaughter. A heavy pall of grief hung over the town as hundreds of people walked in silence to a chapel of rest near the scene following a memorial service for the victims of an inferno which also left 119 people injured — many badly burned — and left the local community distraught. "The world's media are focused on our resort. We thank them for seeking the compassion which the families of the injured and deceased so desperately need," said Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion during the service — one of a number planned.
Switzerland has declared a national day of mourning for January 9, with all the church bells in the country poised to ring at 2:00 pm (13:00 GMT). A moment of silence is also planned. "Many of the victims were apprentices, high school students, and university students," said Pastor Gilles Cavin, representing the Reformed Church of Switzerland at the memorial mass.
Local police, who had already identified eight Swiss victims, earlier announced they had identified 10 more Swiss nationals — four women and six men aged 14 to 31, as well as two 16-year old Italians, a 39-year old Frenchman, a 16-year old dual national of Italy and United Arab Emirates, an 18-year old Romanian and an 18-year old Turk. The fatalities identified to date include 11 minors.
With Crans-Montana a popular destination for international tourists, many foreign nationals are among those hurt in the blaze. They include 71 Swiss nationals, 14 French — the French foreign ministry gave a tally of 16 on Saturday — 11 Italians, four Serbs, a Belgian, a Bosnian, one person from Luxembourg and also a Pole and a Portuguese.
At the memorial mass Pastor Cavin told a packed church that "we are here to say that in the face of the unspeakable, in the face of the brutality of death and suffering, we refuse to look away. We are here to express our compassion, our solidarity." The church was packed well before the start of the mass, which was broadcast on a giant screen outside.
A criminal investigation has been opened against the pair. They are charged with manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence. Investigations will focus on whether safety standards were respected. Video footage which has emerged from the tragedy shows young people desperately trying to flee the scene, some breaking windows to try to force their way out.
One video shared on social media showed the low wooden ceiling catching fire and the flames spreading quickly, as revellers continued to dance.
Looking at the images of the event, experts suggested the "highly flammable" foam may have caused a flashover — a near-simultaneous ignition of everything in an enclosed space. The mayor of Crans-Montana, Nicolas Feraud, assured Swiss public broadcaster RTS that there had been no negligence on the municipality's part. For Patricia Mazzoni, a 55-year old Swiss on holiday in Crans-Montana, what happened is simply incomprehensible: "How is this possible, especially in Switzerland? I never would have imagined it. "I'm filled with a cold anger," she said. — AFP
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