At least 40 people died and 119 are injured at a deadly fire at the Swiss resort of Crans Montana. Romania offers support to Switzerland.
A Romanian is reported missing following a fire that broke out in a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana on Thursday that killed more than 40.
The Romanian foreign ministry said its embassy in Bern is in contact with his family.
A statement said that Romania was “part of the humanitarian contact group support the Swiss authorities managing hospitalized cases.”
It said the Department for Emergency Situations, the Health Ministry, the Defense Ministry, were ready to offer assistance, including medical evacuation flights if needed.
The bar, Le Constellation in the resort of Crans-Montana, was full of Swiss and foreign party-goers celebrating New Year’s Day in the early hours of Thursday when the blaze began in the basement area.
According to initial investigations, the likely cause of the fire was sparklers on champagne bottles that ignited the foam-covered wooden ceiling, an echo of a tragedy in a nightclub in Bucharest in 2015 where 65 died after pyrotechnics torched a foam ceiling.
Switzerland’s President Guy Parmelin called it “one of the worst tragedies” experienced by the country. It happened on his first day in office and he canceled his New Year’s Day message.
A teenage golfer from Italy is the first victim to be named by media, though not officially.
Families of missing teenagers are facing an agonizing wait for information, as the 40 victims and six of the injured have not been identified.
Among the missing people are Swiss, French, Italian, Serb and other nations, BBC reported quoting police commander Frédéric Gisler.
The Crans Montana fire is a copy/paste of Romania’s Colectiv nightclub inferno
