Chilling Photo Shows Exact Moment Champagne Sparkler Started Fire That Killed 47 During New Year Celebrations

A sparkler attached to a champagne bottle is believed to have caused the New Year’s fire in Switzerland which resulted in the deaths of 47 people and injured 115 more.

There’s lots of intense footage online of people scrambling to escape the fire at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, a winter resort in the Valais region, but this photo seems to capture exactly how the horror began:

Axel Clavier, who escaped the fire by smashing a window with a table, said there were ‘waitresses with champagne bottles and sparklers.’

The 16-year-old, whose friend was killed in the inferno, confirmed: ‘They got too close to the ceiling, and suddenly it all caught fire.’

Pyro indoors is never a good idea, but especially so when you’re using flammable sound proofing in a room with no fire exits. 200 people were frantically trying to escape the basement bar up a narrow flight of stairs and through a narrow door; the only escape route.

Here’s some of the footage doing the rounds – it seems people were not immediately aware of the danger they were in:

@parismatch

Crans-Montana : les premières images avant l’horreur… 
De nouvelles images témoignent des tout premiers instants à l’intérieur du bar, quelques minutes avant la catastrophe : de la musique, des rires… puis, soudain, le chaos. Dans la station suisse, le temps semble désormais suspendu. Les autorités font état d’environ quarante victimes et de plus de cent blessés, dont beaucoup dans un état critique.
Pendant ce temps, des familles attendent, espèrent, redoutent : l’identification des corps est en cours et la douleur grandit à mesure que les heures passent. #onregardequoi #sinformersurtiktok #incendie #suisse #actu

♬ son original – Paris Match

@tiiktoknewsnetwork

The moment Fire in Swiss ski resort breaks out on New Year’s Eve. Several dozen people are presumed dead and around 100 injured after a fire at a bar in a Swiss ski resort. The fire, which police say is not being treated as terror-related, occurred during New Year celebrations at Le Constellation Bar and Lounge in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana.#switzerland #fire #News #cransmontana #skiresort

♬ original sound – TiktokNewsNetwork

https://twitter.com/Megatron_ron/status/2006765588987998677

Utterly horrifying. Pretty wild watching people stood outside the venue filming the carnage rather than helping others escape also.

The bar owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, face questions about the safety of the basement establishment and the building materials used, which reportedly had a low safety rating of 6.5 out of 10.

Investigators are saying it could take days before they name all the victims and that they will have to resort to DNA and dental records.

RIP to those victims and thoughts with their friends and families.

For the student who caused a fire while trying to hide his ‘inflatable girlfriend’ from his roommate, click HERE.