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Survivors of the catastrophic nightclub blaze in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are receiving treatment in specialized trauma centers across Europe, while investigators report many of the dead were so badly burned that naming the victims could take an extended period.

A Tragedy of Terrifying Scale

Approximately 40 people were killed and 115 injured when the blaze ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the crowded Constellation bar and basement nightclub.

“Our primary goal is to assign names to all the bodies,” said local official Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, described the fire “a disaster of unprecedented, horrifying proportions” as he described the heavy human cost. “Behind these figures are faces, names, families, lives brutally cut short, forever altered or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin remarked at a news conference.

Challenging Task of Naming Victims

Such was the severity were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said identification work was exceptionally difficult. Families of unaccounted-for young people issued urgent appeals for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies scrambled to find out if their nationals were among those caught up in one of the worst tragedies to strike modern Switzerland.

A regional leader, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said forensic specialists were using dental records and DNA samples for the solemn duty. “All this work needs to be done because the information is so terrible and sensitive that no detail can be told to the families unless we are completely certain,” he said.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Even with one of the world’s most sophisticated healthcare networks, Switzerland’s local hospitals quickly became overwhelmed in the hours after the blaze. Over 30 people were taken to hospitals with specialised burns units in Zurich and Lausanne and six were transferred to Geneva, as reported by news agencies.

Many more of the injured were transported to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU confirmed it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about offering support.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, stated online he had offered his country’s help as clinics in Paris and Lyon admitted victims, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had medical capacity available.

A Multinational Tragedy

Italy and France are among the countries that have said some of their nationals are missing and Italy’s diplomatic representative to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would travel to Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said about 40 people were killed but a foreign government has put the fatality count at 47, based on preliminary information.

A regional health and safety official said on Friday he was “surprised” by the higher number. “This is not the same number that we have,” he told a media outlet.

The Italian ambassador said the majority of the injured had now been identified. Several Italians are still missing and more than a dozen receiving treatment. Three Italians were returned home on Thursday with more to follow.

The French foreign ministry said several nationals were among the injured and eight others remained missing. Australia has said one of its nationals was injured.

Families in Anguish

Relatives and friends have been working desperately to find their loved ones, using social media to circulate photos of those unaccounted for.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen resident in the area for 24 years, said his son and his girlfriend just avoided being in the bar at the time of the fire. “When he came home he was really in shock,” Martins told reporters.

A friend of his 17-year-old son had been evacuated for treatment in Germany with severe burns covering a third of his body, Martins stated.

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a desperate hunt for friends who have been unheard from since the fire. Outside the bar, now shielded by white tarpaulins and a wall of temporary barriers, she said she had not had contact with them since New Year’s Eve.

“We took many pictures [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, all possible platforms to try to find them,” she explained. “But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents don’t know.”

She and a friend later received news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Long Road to Recovery

The director of the city’s teaching hospital, Claire Charmet, said it was treating 22 badly burned patients, most ranging in age from 16 to 26.

“Patients are being stabilised and moved to the surgery or to intensive care units,” she told a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the medical care will be protracted and demanding, lasting several weeks or even months.”