Harrowing new video has emerged showing flames spreading across the ceiling of a Swiss bar with young revellers losing crucial seconds by filming the blaze instead of fleeing.
The footage, taken by French economics student Ferdinand Du Beaudiez, shows flames ripping through the Crans-Montana club as revellers below continue singing, dancing and shouting – unaware they are already trapped in extreme danger.
The inferno killed at least 40 people and another 119 were injured, authorities confirmed today – most of them in their teens and twenties with severe third-degree burns. Italian authorities say they have been told the death toll is 47.
Moments before the fire, a waitress had been seen dancing and waving a lit sparkler beneath foam soundproofing panels on the ceiling, which then caught light.
Some can be seen frantically trying to extinguish the inferno, but within seconds it took hold, erupting into a deadly fireball that engulfs the packed bar.
As the horror unfolded, Ferdinand escaped – then made the extraordinary decision to go back inside.
The brave student has now told how he re-entered the burning Le Constellation basement bar twice in a desperate attempt to save his brother and girlfriend, trying to pull bodies from the flames as chaos and smoke filled the venue.
He told how he found a badly burned person lying on the stairs and couldn’t even tell if it was a man or woman: ‘Their clothes were burned, I could only make out teeth.’
He recalled: ‘I tried to grab this person who was really heavy, but there was no tension in their arm. I just slid him on the ground, then the police and firemen took over from me.’
Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Canton attorney general, confirmed in a press conference today that the blaze was likely caused when sparklers in champagne bottles made the ceiling catch fire.
All bar six of the 119 injured have been formally identified, but the severity of the burn wounds means many survivors and victims are unrecognisable.
Ferdinand, 19, said the New Year’s party had begun joyfully for him and his friends.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘We were in a group of seven, sitting on the veranda at first, on the first floor. We were having a nice party, and we went back and forth between the first floor and the cave (basement).
‘At one moment I saw someone order these champagne bottles and I saw the waitresses take the bottles on their shoulders with sparklers on top.
‘Then one of the sparklers set light to the roof, which was made of insulating foam. I saw the roof catch fire and I went under the bar.
‘And I found some water in the mini fridge. I tried throwing the water on the fire, but the fire had already spread on the whole roof, and it had no effect.’
Ferdinand added that after throwing water on the fire: ‘I went back down, I took my girlfriend’s arm and I screamed to everyone, get out. I pushed my girlfriend as hard as I could up the stairs.
‘There were so many people in the stairs that I lost her arm.
‘I fell on the ground. I could reach the top of the stairs and I fell on my stomach. My first reflex was to cover my face with my arms and I closed my eyes. At this moment I suppose someone opened the front door.
‘This brought lots of air inside, which also fuelled the fire. And the fire turned into a fireball. I felt this fireball over my head, it slightly burned my neck.
‘At this moment the fire took all the breathable air and I couldn’t breathe anymore.
‘So in a last hope I took the foot of the table and grabbed myself out. At this moment I couldn’t find anyone. I got out near the cinema. I couldn’t find anyone.’
Then the young man took the courageous decision to return inside the inferno, hoping to save his brother and his girlfriend.
‘I went back inside. I found someone, I suppose, I hope he was just unconscious. But my prayers are that he’s still alive. I grabbed him in the stairs and I took him out.
‘The firemen took him. And I still couldn’t find anyone. I went back inside but I couldn’t breathe anymore.
‘There was too much smoke and I couldn’t breathe. So I went back out. I found a friend of mine who was really burned. He asked me, where is your girlfriend?
‘I found my girlfriend completely in shock. She told me my brother and his friends were near the bank over there.’
Ferdinand’s brother is in a coma in hospital, among the injured, but is expected to make a recovery, he said.
