'I hid from a wall of heat': Eyewitnesses describe escape from bar inferno

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"I thought my little brother was inside so I came and tried to break the window to help people to exit, and after that I went in."

The 18-year-old man, who did not want to give his name, was speaking to the BBC after a huge fire at a New Year's Eve party in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana rapidly turned what was an evening of celebration into a nightmare.

Police say dozens of people are presumed to have died when the blaze broke out in a bar called Le Constellation at around 01:30 local time (00:30 GMT) on Thursday. Around 100 more were injured, mainly with severe burns.

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The eyewitness told the BBC he was close to the bar when he heard a big explosion, followed by a lot of smoke.

As others tried to escape, he went in, looking for his brother. Once inside, he described a scene of horror.

"I saw people burning... I found people burning from head to foot, no clothes anymore," he said, adding: "It was very shocking." His brother was unharmed.

"I went in this bar every day this week - the day I didn't go, it burned," he said.

Firefighters and medics quickly took over, he said, but he tried to help where he could, offering water and clothes to the injured.

Just minutes earlier, locals and tourists were celebrating the arrival of 2026 during one of the busiest holiday periods of the year for Alpine ski resorts.

Le Constellation is a large bar with space for around 300 people spread over two floors and a terrace, although it is not known how many people were in the bar at the time.

Two French women, Emma and Albane, told French media outlet BFMTV that they were inside when the fire started.

They said they believed it began when a waitress put "birthday candles" on top of some champagne bottles.

"In a matter of seconds, the entire ceiling was ablaze. Everything was made of wood," they said, adding that the flames "started to rise very quickly".

Evacuation was "very difficult", Emma and Albane said, because the escape route out of the room they were in was "narrow" and the stairs leading outside were "even narrower".

"We were very lucky," they added, claiming there were "about 200 people trying to get out within 30 seconds through some very narrow steps".

Another teenager who was inside the bar told the BBC how he was forced to hide from a "wall of heat" before managing to escape up the stairs.

Still, he could not get out so tried to break a window with a table. But it was only when he used his foot to smash through the glass that he was able to make it out alive.

The intensive care unit at the nearest hospital quickly filled up and some patients have been sent elsewhere for treatment, including to Milan in neighbouring Italy.

Among those who heard the tragedy unfold was Oleh Paska, who is visiting Crans-Montana with his wife and child.

He told the BBC they had just celebrated the New Year in their hotel room around 50m (160ft) from the bar when they heard a series of explosions, which they initially thought were firecrackers.

They heard someone crying outside but thought at first that a fight had broken out.

It was only when emergency services began to arrive, with the "different types of sirens" signalling the arrival of ambulances, police and firefighters, that they realised something was wrong.

By Thursday, the area which is usually teeming with tourists was unusually quiet, Mr Paska said.

An atmosphere of shock hung over the town of Crans-Montana on Thursday, after the scenes of chaos and tragedy overnight.

Italy's ambassador to Switzerland has said it could take weeks for all of the victims to be identified, with the country's foreign minister saying identification would be difficult due to the severe burns.

For now, friends and relatives nervously wait for news of loved ones.

An Italian man said one of his friends who was in the bar at the time was "burned all over", while another was taken to Zurich by helicopter.

"Another friend of ours... last night we had no news, he couldn't be found," he told Italian public broadcaster Rai News.

"My friends and I, we haven't slept last night, we've barely eaten," he added.