Hundreds march in silence as more Swiss bar fire victims identified
Hundreds of people have marched in silence to honour the victims of a fire at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana.
Dozens were killed and more than 100 injured in the fire, which broke out in the early hours of Thursday as people celebrated the New Year.
By Sunday morning, Swiss authorities had identified 24 of the 40 fatalities.
People were in tears during the memorial procession. Pic: AP
Mourners attended a mass this morning at the Chapelle Saint-Christophe before joining the silent march up the hill to the Le Constellation bar, the site of the tragedy.
Emergency service workers were among those who gathered for the service – led by Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion – and left flowers at a makeshift memorial.
A mass to remember the victims was held at the Chapelle Saint-Christophe. Pic: Reuters
Mourners also gathered outside the church during the mass. Pic: Reuters
Firefighters also attended the service. Pic: Reuters
Hundreds of people followed the service on a screen installed outside the church.
During the mass, the Rev Gilles Cavin spoke of the “terrible uncertainty” for families unsure if their loved ones are among the dead or still alive among the injured.
“We pray for their friends hard-hit by misery on this day that was meant to be one of festivities and friendship,” he said.
Swiss authorities have said the process of identifying victims has been difficult because of the severity of the blaze.
Earlier, Swiss police said 16 more victims had been identified – including several children.
These included an 18-year-old Swiss woman, two 15-year-old girls and a 14-year-old, and three Swiss men aged 31, 20 and 18, and a 17-year-old, and two 16-year-old boys.
Two 16-year-old Italians were also confirmed dead, a 16-year-old with dual nationality (Italy and the United Arab Emirates), an 18-year-old Romanian, a 39-year-old Frenchman, and an 18-year-old Turkish national.
Their bodies have been returned to their families, police added.
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One of the victims was Arthur Brodard, a Swiss 16-year-old, who had reportedly joined around 10 of his friends at the bar on New Year’s Eve.
“Our Arthur has now left to party in paradise,” his mother Laetitia Brodard said in a Facebook story posted on Saturday night.
“We can start our mourning, knowing that he is in peace and in the light.”
Arthur Brodard. Pic: Laetitia Brodard
She and her husband Christophe, who are from the Swiss city of Lausanne, had been among the families searching for their loved ones.
In her social media post she thanked those who had shown “their compassion, their love” and had shared information as she anxiously searched and waited for news of her son.
Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s.
Meanwhile, investigations are continuing into the cause of the fire, focusing on the champagne sparklers lit inside the bar and its ceiling foam, as well as the location and quality of emergency exits.
The two managers of the bar, where the fire broke out, are under criminal investigation.
