British News Agency

Swiss President Guy Parmelin described the blaze as one of the most traumatic events in the country’s history and said a five-day period of mourning would be observed. “It was a drama of unknown scale,” Parmelin said, paying tribute to “the many young lives that were lost and cut short.”

The Swiss president said the country owes it to these young people, whose “projects, hopes and dreams” were cut short, to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.

The fire broke out at 1:30 a.m. at the town’s Le Constellation bar, but the cause has yet to be determined. Some witnesses said it began after fireworks or signal flares were placed in champagne bottles.

Witnesses said the flames ignited the ceiling and spread within seconds, engulfing a crowded basement filled with revelers.

Swiss police warned that identifying everyone who died in the disaster could take days or even weeks. The exact number of people in the bar at the time remains unclear, and police did not say how many are still missing.

The canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said significant resources have been mobilized “to identify the victims and return the bodies to their families as quickly as possible.”