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Those who escaped of the devastating nightclub blaze in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are receiving treatment in special burns units across Europe, while investigators say many of the deceased were so badly burned that naming the victims could take days or weeks.

A Tragedy of Terrifying Scale

About 40 people were lost their lives and 115 injured when the blaze ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the packed Constellation bar and basement nightclub.

“Our primary goal is to put names to all the bodies,” stated Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a calamity of unprecedented, horrifying proportions” as he described the heavy human cost. “Beyond these numbers are individuals, names, families, lives tragically ended, completely interrupted or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin remarked at a news conference.

Gruelling Identification Process

Such was the severity were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said the process of identification was particularly gruelling. Families of unaccounted-for young people issued pleas for news of their family members and diplomatic missions worked urgently to determine if their citizens were among those involved in one of the worst disasters to strike the country in recent memory.

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 distressing and delicate that no detail can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he explained.

Hospitals Reach Capacity

Despite having one of the world’s most sophisticated healthcare networks, Switzerland’s regional clinics quickly became overwhelmed in the hours after the fire. Over 30 people were taken to hospitals with specialised burns units 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 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 unaccounted for and Italy’s diplomatic representative 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 expressed surprise 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. Three Italians were repatriated 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 hurt.

Families in Anguish

Loved ones have been scrambling to find their loved ones, using social media to circulate photos of those still missing.

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 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 stated.

Eleonore, 17, started the year with a desperate hunt for friends who have been missing 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 loads of photos [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, every social network possible to try to find them,” she explained. “But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents haven't heard anything.”

She and a friend managed to get news that one friend was in a medically induced unconsciousness 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 between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being medically stabilized and moved to the operating theatre or to intensive care units,” she informed a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the treatment will be protracted and demanding, lasting several weeks or even many months.”