All the people who were injured in a fire that tore through a New Year’s celebration in the Swiss Alps have been identified, police have said.
Swiss police said a total of 116 people were injured in the disaster at the crowded Le Constellation bar, with more than two-thirds still in hospital.
A statement said 68 Swiss citizens, 21 French nationals, 10 Italians, four Serbs and two Poles were injured, as well as one person each from Australia, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Portugal and the Republic of Congo.
Also among the injured were four dual nationals: of France and Finland, France and Italy, Switzerland and Belgium, and Italy and the Philippines.
Police said 83 people are still in hospital but did not give any further details.
Authorities said on Sunday that they had identified all 40 of the people who died in the Crans-Montana fire, which started at around 1.30am on New Year’s Day. The youngest was 14 years old.
A 15-year-old with joint British, Israeli and French citizenship was among the victims. Charlotte Niddam attended the private Immanuel College in Hertfordshire.
Read more:
Teens who killed homeless man jailed
Ousted Venezuelan leader in court
The severity of the burns suffered by some victims made the identification process more difficult, requiring families to supply DNA samples, authorities said.
Italian authorities flew home the bodies of five victims on Monday.
Officials at an airport in the town of Sion stood quietly as Swiss police pallbearers carried the coffins past rows of firefighters and soldiers to an Italian plane. Mourners embraced before relatives boarded the aircraft.
Officials and relatives of the Italian victims at Sion airport. Pic: Reuters/Umit Bektas
Authorities believe the fire was triggered by festive sparklers on top of Champagne bottles that came too close to the ceiling.
A criminal investigation has been opened into the Le Constellation bar managers.
The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.
This story originally appeared on Skynews
