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Survivors of the catastrophic nightclub blaze in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in specialized trauma centers in various European nations, 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 hurt when the inferno engulfed a New Year’s Eve celebration in the crowded Constellation bar and underground club.

“The first objective is to put names to all the bodies,” stated local official Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, described the fire “a calamity of unprecedented, horrifying proportions” as he described the heavy human cost. “Behind these figures are faces, names, families, lives tragically ended, forever altered or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin remarked at a press briefing.

Gruelling Identification Process

Such was the severity were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said the process of identification was particularly gruelling. Families of missing youths issued pleas for news of their family members and diplomatic missions scrambled to determine if their citizens were among those caught up in one of the worst disasters to strike modern Switzerland.

Mathias Reynard, the head of government of the canton of Valais, said experts were using dental records and DNA samples for the task. “All this work needs to be done because the findings is so terrible and delicate that no detail can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he said.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Even with one of the world’s most sophisticated healthcare networks, Switzerland’s regional clinics 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, according to news agencies.

Many more 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 assistance as clinics in Paris and Lyon admitted victims, while Sweden and North Macedonia also said they had medical capacity available.

International Victims

Italy and France are among the countries that have said some of their nationals are unaccounted for 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 another nation has put the fatality count at 47, based on preliminary information.

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

The Italian ambassador said all but five of the injured had now been named. 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 hurt.

Families in Anguish

Relatives and friends have been working desperately to find their missing family members, using online platforms 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 just avoided being in the bar at the time of the fire. “When he came home he was really in shock,” Martins said.

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 added.

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a desperate hunt for friends who have been missing since the fire. Outside the bar, now covered by white tarpaulins and a wall of temporary barriers, she said she had not heard from 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 said. “But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents haven't heard anything.”

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 severely injured patients, most between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being medically stabilized and moved to the surgery or to specialised beds,” she informed a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the treatment will be protracted and demanding, lasting several weeks or even months.”