'Ceiling on fire': Panicked partygoers smashed windows; witnesses recount Swiss bar horror

NEW DELHI: Panicked partygoers smashed windows and fought through smoke and flames to escape a deadly fire that tore through a packed New Year celebration at a bar in Switzerland’s luxury ski resort of Crans-Montana, where dozens are feared dead and more than 100 people were injured, according to Swiss authorities. Witnesses described scenes of chaos, screaming crowds and parents rushing to the area in fear that their children were trapped inside.

A witness who spoke to French broadcaster BFMTV said he saw people breaking windows to flee the blaze, some of them gravely injured, while panicked parents arrived in cars trying to find out whether their children had managed to escape. Watching from across the street, the young man said he saw around 20 people scrambling out through smoke and flames, likening the scene to a horror movie.




Also read: Deadly fire ravages New Year celebration at luxury Swiss ski resort; dozens feared dead, 100 injured — what we know so far

‘The entire ceiling was on fire’

Two French women, Emma and Albane, who were inside the basement-level La Constellation bar when the fire broke out shortly after midnight, told BFMTV that panic erupted within seconds.

“It was absolute panic, everyone was screaming,” they said, describing how crowd movement became uncontrollable as the flames spread.

“One of them (candles - editor's note) was brought too close to the ceiling, which caught fire. In a few dozen seconds, the whole ceiling was on fire. Everything was made of wood,” one of the women said.

According to their account, the party was taking place in the basement when the fire quickly spread to the upper level of the venue.

Windows smashed as exits proved inadequate

The women said the main exit was too small for the number of people inside, forcing some to take desperate measures to escape.

“The exit door was quite small compared to the number of people present. Someone broke a window so that people could get out,” one of them told BFMTV.

They said firefighters and police arrived “within minutes,” but the flames were already dangerously close. “We had flames a meter away from us; if we hadn't run away, we would surely have been injured too,” one of the women said.

One of the witnesses also said she was injured during the stampede-like escape. She recounted being “thrown down the stairs” by the surge of the crowd, injuring her knee.

Young crowd feared among victims

While officials have not yet confirmed the final number or identities of those killed, the two women estimated that around 200 people were inside the bar at the time of the fire. They said many were minors, aged between 15 and 20.

Accounts of parents rushing to the scene echoed fears that many young people were trapped as the fire engulfed the wooden structure.

Probe under way as rescue continues

Swiss authorities said rescue and identification efforts were continuing, with the area around the bar sealed off and a no-fly zone imposed. According to Reuters, the Valais canton prosecutor said an investigation was under way “to identify the circumstances which caused this dramatic situation to occur,” adding that “currently we are favouring a fire and at no time is there question of any attack.”

For survivors and witnesses, the terror of the night remains raw. As one witness told BFMTV, the scenes unfolding in and around the bar felt less like a New Year celebration and more like a nightmare that unfolded in seconds.