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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 in various European nations, while investigators say many of the deceased were so severely injured that naming the victims could take an extended period.

A Calamity of Unprecedented Proportions

Approximately 40 people were killed and 115 injured when the blaze engulfed a New Year’s Eve celebration in the packed Constellation bar and underground club.

“Our primary goal is to assign names to all the victims,” said Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a disaster of unprecedented, horrifying proportions” as he outlined the devastating toll. “Behind these figures are faces, names, families, lives brutally cut short, forever altered or for ever changed,” Parmelin remarked at a press briefing.

Gruelling Identification Process

Such was the severity were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said identification work was particularly gruelling. Parents of unaccounted-for young people issued urgent appeals for news of their family members and foreign embassies scrambled to find out if their nationals were among those caught up in one of the worst disasters to strike the country in recent memory.

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

Overwhelmed Medical Systems

Despite having one of the world’s most sophisticated healthcare networks, Switzerland’s local hospitals quickly reached capacity in the hours after the fire. Over 30 people were taken to hospitals with dedicated burn centers in Zurich and Lausanne and six were flown to Geneva, according to news agencies.

A significant number of the injured were flown to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU confirmed it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he had offered his country’s help as clinics in Paris and Lyon took in patients, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had hospital beds available.

A Multinational Tragedy

Italy and France are among the countries that have said a number of their citizens are missing and Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would visit Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said approximately 40 people were killed but another nation has put the fatality count at 47, based on preliminary information.

A regional health and safety official said on Friday he was “taken aback” by the latter figure. “This is not the same number that we have,” he told a radio station.

The Italian ambassador said all but five of the injured had now been named. A number of Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Some victims were returned home on Thursday with more to follow.

The French foreign ministry said nine French citizens were among the injured and eight others remained unaccounted for. Australia has said one of its nationals was injured.

Desperate Search for Loved Ones

Loved ones have been scrambling to find their missing family members, using social media to share images of those unaccounted for.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen living in the area for 24 years, said his son and his girlfriend narrowly missed being in the bar at the time of the fire. “When he came home he was deeply traumatized,” Martins said.

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

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

“We took loads of photos [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, every social network possible to try to find them,” she explained. “But there’s no news. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents don’t know.”

She and a friend managed to get news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Long Road to Recovery

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

“Patients are being stabilised and transferred to the operating theatre or to intensive care units,” she informed a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the treatment will be long and intense, lasting several weeks or even many months.”