Devastated families have started burying their loved ones who were killed in a bar fire while ringing in the New Year in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana.
The funerals of the six Italian teenagers who were among the 40 killed in the New Year’s Eve blaze were being held on Wednesday.
Achille Barosi and Chiara Costanzo, both sixteen, were buried in Milan, while services for victims Giovanni Tamburi and Riccardo Minghetti were held in Bologna and Rome respectively.
The family of Emanuele Galeppini, a 17-year-old golf prodigy from Genoa, asked for privacy and chose not to disclose the time and location of his funeral.
A service for Sofia Prosperi, an Italian and Swiss national, took place in her home town of Lugano.
Schools across Italy on Wednesday also held a minute’s silence to honor the victims.
Italy’s education minister Giuseppe Valditara observed it with students at Milan’s Orsoline Di San Carlo school, which Achille attended.
The six teenagers were partying at the ‘Le Constellation’ bar in the Alpine resort when a fire – believed to have been caused as wait staff waved champagne bottles plugged with sparkles close to the ceiling – tore through the venue in the early hours of New Years Day.
Investigators believe it then rapidly developed into a ‘flashover’ – likely igniting much of the venue in seconds and rendering escape almost impossible
Forty people hailing from seven different countries were killed: 26 of those were aged between 14 and 18. Some were burnt beyond recognition, and were only identified through the use of DNA analysis.
Among the dead were 10 Swiss males aged 16 to 31; 11 Swiss females aged 14 to 24; one 24-year-old woman who held dual Swiss-French nationality; three 16-year-old Italian boys and two Italian girls aged 15 and 16, and five French males aged 14 to 39.
Two French women aged 33 and 26; a 15-year-old girl with triple British-French-Israeli nationality; a 16-year-old boy who held dual Italian-UAE nationality; an 18-year-old Romanian boy; a Belgian 17-year-old girl; a Portuguese 22-year-old woman and an 18-year-old Turkish boy were also identified.
Achille, 16, reportedly went back to Le Constellation at 1.30am on New Year’s Day after leaving without his phone and jacket.
Moments later, the fire took hold – and the teenager from Milan was later confirmed to be among the dead.
His aunt had described him to the media as an avid painter, and had been attending an art school in the Italian style capital.
His cousin, Edoardo Sparacino, told Italian news agency ANSA: ‘I spoke to Achille’s friends who were there and they told me that my cousin had returned to the club for a moment when the explosion occurred.’
Sixteen-year-old Chiara Costanzo from Milan went to Le Constellation with friends ‘by chance’ for New Year when tragedy struck.
Her father, Andrea Costanzo, confirmed to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that his daughter was among those killed.
‘I just received the phone call that should never come to a father. A dull, unspeakable pain: my beloved Chiara is no longer with us,’ he told the daily.
He had hoped that his daughter would be among those missing, her identity yet to ne confirmed, before his worst fears were realised.
Andrea described his daughter as ‘the most extraordinary to ever walk the earth’.
‘The pain now is greater than the thirst for justice. I don’t even know if it will ever come. Now I just feel a great emptiness’, he added.
Sofia Propseri, 15, grew up in Castel San Pietro in the Swiss canton of Ticino, and had been attending the top International School of Como in Italy at the time of her death.
Italian media reported that the Italo-Swiss national had joined a group of friends to return to Switzerland to see in the New Year when tragedy struck.
Authorities added her to the list of missing people after friends went through images and videos of the party, recognising her among those who had not left the club.
Friends took to TikTok to pay tribute, one reported to have written: ‘All this makes no sense. We were supposed to keep growing together.’
Matteo Prosperi, the mayor of Castel San Pietro, told Swiss publication La Regione: ‘We are close to the family and share their grief.’
Rome native Riccardo Minghetti, 16, was reported by local media to have gone to Le Constellation with his sister Matilde – but she was outside when the fire started.
The pair had gone to Crans-Montana as their mother owns there. He was a member of EUR Sporting Club.
Matilde suffered minor injuries to her hands as she tried to push through the crowds looking for her brother; his parents Massimo and Carla were then told on Sunday morning that he did not make it out alive.
Giuseppa Tomao, headmistress of the Stanislao Cannizzaro scientific high school in the Italian capital’s EUR district, which both siblings attended, said Matilde suffered burns to her hands as she helped rescuers dig through the wreckage.
Riccardo’s friend Manfredi Marcucci, who also went to the club, survived with 40 per cent burns to his body, according to reports. The pair had been to the venue before.
La Repubblica reported that Riccardo was remembered as having ‘a quick wit’ and a passion for tennis, swimming and skiing. His funeral is expected to be held on Wednesday.
Ms Tomao added: ‘Riccardo will forever be a part of our school: his smile, his kindness, and his sensitivity will live on in each of our memories.’
Promising golfer Emanuele Galeppini, 17, was confirmed among the dead by the Italian Golf Federation in a post on social media.
The youngster, who lived in Dubai and attended its Swiss International School, was remembered by the professional association as ‘a young athlete who embodied passion and authentic values’.
It added: ‘Emanuele, you will remain in our hearts forever.’
Galeppini, from Genoa, had been ranked 3,408th on the World Amateur Golf Ranking at the time of his death but had been ranked as high as 2,440th in the past having notched up wins and podiums in junior golfing competitions.
His family had last spoken to him at midnight on New Year’s Day, according to Corriere della Sera – but could not get hold of him again as news of the blaze broke.
Another 116 were injured, some of them still fighting for their lives.
Le Constellation’s French owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti are under investigation, suspected of manslaughter, bodily harm and causing a fire, all by way of negligence.
Investigators are examining whether the soundproof material used on the ceiling of the bar conformed to safety measures.
Former staff have also claimed that safety standards at the club were poor, alleging that fire extinguishers were kept under lock and key and that the bar’s emergency exit was often locked.
