The luxury nightclub in the Swiss Alps, where at least 40 people were killed and nearly 120 others injured in a New Year’s Eve inferno, had earlier released a promotional video advertising flaming champagne bottles, which authorities said were the cause of the tragedy.
Le Constellation, a bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, posted the video to YouTube, which shows waitresses in helmets moving through the dark, crowded club carrying bottles covered with twinkling candles.
In the imagesthe bottles appear to be held high and sometimes almost touch the ceiling.
Authorities surrounded the area around Le Constellation bar after a fire ripped through the venue during New Year’s Eve celebrations at the luxury alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana. (Maxime Schmid/AFP via Getty Images)
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The video emerged after a deadly fire ripped through the basement nightclub during a New Year’s Eve celebration around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday.
At least 40 people were killed and 119 others were injured, many seriously, as flames and smoke quickly spread through the packed venue.
According to two witnesses, a bartender carried a female staff member on his shoulders as she held a champagne bottle with a lit sparkler or flare near the wooden ceiling above the bar.
Moments later a fire broke out above us.
Emergency services and medical aircraft are seen at a regional airport in Switzerland as victims of a deadly New Year’s Eve bar fire in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana were transported for treatment. (Reuters/Lisa Leutner)
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Valais Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud confirmed on Friday that drunken fireworks were likely the cause, with the flames causing a violent ignition of flammable gases known as flashover, causing the flames to suddenly spread.
“The entire ceiling was on fire and the fire spread very quickly. It happened within seconds,” two survivors later told French broadcaster BFMTV.
Axel Clavier, 16, from Paris, said he felt like he was choking as smoke filled the club.
Clavier told The Associated press he escaped by using a table to force a Plexiglas window out of the frame amid what he described as “total chaos.”
He also said he saw waitresses arriving with champagne bottles and sparklers.
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Police officers and first responders stand next to a vehicle at the scene of a fire that destroyed the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. (Maxime Schmid/AFP via Getty Images)
No arrests had been confirmed as of Friday afternoon.
Pilloud said investigators will try to determine whether someone is criminally liable for negligent fire, negligent homicide or negligent injury.
Since the tragedy, hundreds of people have gathered outside the burned-out site in Crans-Montana, laying flowers and candles as families waited for news of missing loved ones.
Italian authorities say the death toll could rise to 47. Reuters reported thisciting information from Swiss officials, who continue to work to identify bodies.
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Swiss President Guy Parmelin described the disaster as “one of the worst tragedies our country has ever known”, noting that many of the victims were young people celebrating the New Year.
While the majority of the injured were Swiss, four Serbs were injured, along with others from Bosnia, Belgium and Portugal.
Italy and France have confirmed that some of their nationals are still missing.
