Swiss Prosecutor Rules Out Attack After Deadly Crans-Montana Blast

Several dozen people were killed and more than 100 injured following a blast and subsequent fire at a New Year’s Eve gathering in the Swiss alpine resort of Crans-Montana, according to Swiss police and the Italian Foreign Ministry.

The incident occurred at around 1:30 a.m. local time at Le Constellation, a venue popular with tourists, police in the canton of Valais said. More than 100 people were inside the bar at the time.

“Several dozen people are presumed to have died,” Frederic Gisler, police commander in the Wallis canton, told reporters. Emergency services treated numerous people for burns, while several helicopters were deployed during the rescue operation.

The Italian Foreign Ministry said it believed around 40 people had died and approximately 100 were injured in the blaze. It said the fire was not thought to have been caused by arson, adding that victims could not be immediately identified due to the severity of their injuries.

No question of any attack – prosecutor

Valais prosecutor-general Beatrice Pilloud said an investigation was under way “to identify the circumstances which caused this dramatic situation to occur.” She said authorities were currently favouring a fire as the cause and stressed that “at no time is there question of any attack.”

“Out of respect for the families, I cannot say more at this time,” Pilloud said, adding that work was ongoing to identify victims and return bodies to their families as quickly as possible. She said the scale of the forensic and identification process would require the closure of the district.

Police said the area around the venue had been sealed off and that a temporary no-fly zone was imposed over Crans-Montana as emergency and investigative operations continued. The cause of the explosion remains officially undetermined.

Official statements issued so far made no reference to the presence of Maltese nationals among the victims. Swiss authorities said further information would be released once identification procedures and the initial phase of the investigation had progressed.