Around 40 people are presumed dead and about 100 have been injured after a blaze ripped through a crowded bar in the luxury Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana in Switzerland.
The fire started at about 1:30am (00:30 GMT) on Thursday morning in a bar called Le Constellation, as revellers rang in the new year, police spokesperson Gaetan Lathion said.
“Several dozen people are presumed to have died,” Frederic Gisler, the police commander in the Valais Canton in southwestern Switzerland, told reporters at a media briefing hours after the tragedy.
Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the fire’s cause but added that investigators have ruled out an attack.
Police said they could not immediately be more precise about how many people had been killed in the blaze. However, the Italian foreign ministry said in a statement that Swiss police believe about 40 people have died.
The resort is popular with tourists. Some of the victims are from other countries, said Stephane Ganzer, head of security for the Valais Canton.
A tourist from New York filmed bright orange flames pouring from the bar, and told the AFP news agency he saw people running and screaming in the dark.
Images shared by Swiss media in the immediate aftermath of the blaze showed a building in flames, and emergency services nearby.
Swiss authorities said that at around 1:30am, smoke was spotted in a bar in Crans-Montana.
The first police patrols arrived on the scene. They were followed by a large number of firefighters. Helicopters and ambulances also rushed to the scene.
The priority was to treat the victims and take them to hospitals, officials said.
“We are devastated,” Gisler said.
“I can’t hide from you that we are all shaken by what happened overnight in Crans.”
The Le Constellation has a capacity of 300 people and another 40 people on its terrace, according to the Crans-Montana website. Earlier, Lathion said that more than 100 people were in the building when the blaze broke out.
A medical source told national broadcaster RTS that hospitals in French-speaking Switzerland were overwhelmed with burn victims in the aftermath of the blaze.
Most of those injured were in a serious condition, said regional councillor Mathias Renard. Valais hospital’s intensive care unit was full, and patients were being transferred elsewhere, he added.
After the incident, the area was completely closed off and a no-fly zone imposed over Crans-Montana, a police statement said.
Crans-Montana is situated in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the Matterhorn.
It is an internationally renowned ski resort and attracts lots of tourists, Lathion said.
A reception centre and helpline have been set up for affected families, he added.
Source: Al Jazeera