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Those who escaped of the catastrophic bar fire in the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana are being cared for in specialized trauma centers in various European nations, while authorities say many of the dead were so severely injured that identification could take days or weeks.

A Tragedy of Terrifying Scale

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

“The first objective is to put names to all the victims,” said Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Féraud.

The Swiss president, Guy Parmelin, called the fire “a disaster of unparalleled, terrifying proportions” as he described the heavy human cost. “Behind these figures are individuals, names, families, lives brutally cut short, completely interrupted or irrevocably damaged,” Parmelin said at a press briefing.

Challenging Task of Naming Victims

Such was the severity were the victims’ burns that Swiss officials said the process of identification was exceptionally difficult. Parents of missing youths issued pleas for news of their family members and foreign embassies worked urgently to determine if their nationals were among those caught up in one of the worst tragedies to strike modern Switzerland.

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 terrible and delicate that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” he explained.

Overwhelmed Medical Systems

Despite having one of the world’s most advanced medical systems, Switzerland’s local hospitals quickly reached capacity in the hours after the blaze. More than 30 people were taken to hospitals with dedicated burn centers in Zurich and Lausanne and six were flown to Geneva, as reported by news agencies.

Many more 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 providing medical assistance.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said 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 ambassador to Switzerland said the Italian foreign minister would travel to Crans-Montana.

Swiss officials have said approximately 40 people were killed but a foreign government 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 higher number. “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 identified. Several Italians are still missing and more than a dozen hospitalised. Some victims were repatriated on Thursday with more to follow.

The French foreign ministry said several nationals were among the injured and additional individuals remained unaccounted for. Australia has said a citizen was hurt.

Families in Anguish

Relatives and friends have been scrambling to find their missing family members, using social media to share images 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 deeply traumatized,” 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. Standing outside the bar, now covered by white tarpaulins and a barrier of temporary fencing, 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, all possible platforms to try to find them,” she explained. “But there’s no news. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents don’t know.”

She and a friend managed to get 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 between 16 to 26.

“Patients are being stabilised 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 long and intense, lasting several weeks or even months.”