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Those who escaped of the catastrophic bar fire in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are receiving treatment in specialized trauma centers in various European nations, while authorities report many of the dead were so severely injured that naming the victims could take days or weeks.

A Calamity of Unprecedented Proportions

About 40 people were lost their lives and 115 hurt when the inferno ripped through a New Year’s Eve celebration in the crowded Constellation bar and underground club.

“Our primary goal is to assign names to all the bodies,” stated local official Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a calamity of unparalleled, horrifying proportions” as he described the devastating toll. “Beyond these numbers are individuals, names, families, lives brutally cut short, completely interrupted or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin said at a news conference.

Gruelling Identification Process

So severe were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said identification work was exceptionally difficult. Families of missing youths issued pleas for news of their loved ones and foreign embassies scrambled to determine if their nationals were among those involved in one of the worst tragedies to strike modern Switzerland.

A regional leader, 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 sensitive that no detail can be told to the families unless we are completely certain,” he said.

Overwhelmed Medical Systems

Despite having one of the world’s most advanced medical systems, Switzerland’s regional clinics quickly reached capacity 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 transported to other countries including Belgium, France and Germany, while the EU said it had been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, stated online 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 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 about 40 people were killed but another nation has put the death toll 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 receiving treatment. Some victims 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 injured.

Desperate Search for Loved Ones

Loved ones have been working desperately to find their missing family members, using online platforms to circulate photos of those unaccounted for.

Paulo Martins, a French citizen resident 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 really in shock,” Martins told reporters.

A friend of his 17-year-old son had been evacuated for treatment in Germany with his body 30% covered in burns, 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 many pictures [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, every social network possible to try to find them,” she said. “But there’s no news. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents don’t know.”

She and a friend later received news that one friend was in a coma in a hospital in Lausanne.

Treatment Will Be Lengthy

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

“Patients are being medically stabilized and moved to the operating theatre or to specialised beds,” she told a local newspaper. “We need to be aware that the medical care will be protracted and demanding, lasting many weeks or even many months.”