"Swiss investigators are probing what caused a fire in a bar at an Alpine ski resort that left dozens of people presumed dead and another 100 injured during a New Year's celebration. Most injuries, many of them serious, occurred when the blaze swept through the crowded bar less than two hours after midnight Thursday in southwestern Switzerland. The Crans-Montana resort is best known as an international ski and golf venue."
"The blaze broke out around 1:30 a.m. Thursday inside the Le Constellation bar amid the holiday celebration. Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old from Paris survived the blaze by using a table to push a plexiglass window out of its casing, allowing him to escape the total chaos inside the bar. One of his friends died and two or three were missing, he told The Associated Press."
"He said he hadn't seen the fire start, but did see waitresses arrive with champagne bottles with sparklers, he said. Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders as she held a lit candle in a bottle. The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling, they told the broadcaster."
An early-morning fire swept through Le Constellation, a crowded basement nightclub in Crans-Montana, during New Year's celebrations, leaving dozens presumed dead and about 100 injured. Many injuries were serious as the blaze spread less than two hours after midnight. Witnesses described sparklers on champagne bottles and a lit candle in a bottle as flames quickly spread and the wooden ceiling collapsed. Patrons tried to flee up a narrow stairway and through a small door, producing a crowd surge; others smashed windows to escape. A 16-year-old survivor escaped by pushing out a plexiglass window. Swiss investigators are probing the cause.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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