Eye Witness Describes Fire In Bar In Swiss Resort That Caused Deaths

A fire ripped through a bar’s New Year celebration in a Swiss Alpine resort less than two hours after midnight Thursday, with dozens of people feared dead and about 100 more injured, most seriously, police said. Samuel Rapp, an eyewitness who was at a restaurant opposite the bar, described seeing people trying to escape the blaze. "There were a lot of people at the entry trying to escape and it was full and people were walking on everybody," he said. "Nobody was thinking it could happen at New Year's Eve. It's horrible, you know. And everyone was shocked," Rapp added. The Crans-Montana resort is best known as an international ski and golf venue, and overnight, its crowded Le Constellation bar morphed from a scene of revelry into the site of potentially one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies. Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims. The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, the head of the regional government said. Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families. Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Canton attorney general, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.