Dozens presumed dead, about 100 injured in fire at Swiss Alps bar during New Year’s celebration

CRANS-MONTANA (SWITZERLAND): (Jan 1)  Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a bar in a Swiss Alps resort town during a New Year’s celebration, police said on Thursday.

“Several tens of people” were killed at the bar, Le Constellation, Valais Canton police commander Frederic Gisler said during a news conference.

Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families, but “that will take time and for the time being, it is premature to give you a more precise figure,” Gisler said, adding that the community is “devastated.”