The blaze tore through Le Constellation bar shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Thursday as revelers gathered to celebrate the new year, prompting an urgent investigation into the cause and a complex effort to identify victims.
President Guy Parmelin described the incident as one of the most traumatic events in Switzerland’s history.
“It was a drama of an unknown scale,” Parmelin said, paying tribute to the many “young lives that were lost and interrupted”.
Switzerland owed it to those young people, whose “projects, hopes and dreams” were cut short, to ensure such a tragedy never happened again, he said.
Meanwhile, investigators said it could take days or weeks to identify all those who died, as the exact number of people inside the bar at the time of the fire remains unclear.
Police have not specified how many people are still missing.
The canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said significant resources had been deployed “to identify the victims and return their bodies to the families as quickly as possible”.
Pilloud said she could not comment on reports that lighted candles had caused the fire.
“An investigation is taking place. It will identify the exact circumstances of what happened,” she said.
She added that investigators would examine whether the bar met safety standards and had the required number of exits.
Separately, witnesses described how the fire spread rapidly through the venue.
Some said the blaze began after sparklers or flares were placed in champagne bottles.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside the bar when they saw a bartender carrying a female member of staff on his shoulders while she held a lit birthday candle on top of a bottle.
They said the candle ignited the wooden ceiling, with flames spreading quickly and causing the ceiling to collapse.
Witnesses said the fire engulfed a crowded basement packed with revelers, many of them teenagers, within seconds.
One of the women described a surge in the crowd as people tried to escape up a narrow flight of stairs.
In a related development, hundreds of people gathered in silence on Thursday evening in freezing temperatures, laying flowers and lighting candles near the site.
Many at the vigil said they knew people who were missing or badly injured.
Ulysse Brozzo, 16, an instructor at a local ski school, said several of his friends had been in the club.
He said he had spoken to some who were safe but had not yet heard from others he knew were inside when the fire broke out.
A friend of a friend was in a coma at Sion hospital, he said.
“It’s a total tragedy,” Brozzo said. “There were hundreds of people inside.”
Parmelin, speaking on his first day in the role as Switzerland’s new head of state, said some survivors were “severely injured”.
He said they had suffered serious burns and lung damage.
The injured were taken to hospitals in Sion, Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich, with others transported to neighboring countries.
The European Union said it was in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance.
French President Emmanuel Macron said some of the injured were being treated in French hospitals.
Authorities said several foreign nationals were among those affected.
Italy’s foreign ministry said 16 Italian citizens were missing and 12 had been injured.
France said eight of its citizens were missing and that it could not rule out French nationals among the dead.
One Australian was among the injured, officials said.
Crans-Montana is a resort town of about 10,000 people in the Valais canton of the Swiss Alps, overlooking the Matterhorn.
Unlike nearby Verbier, which attracts a wealthy anglophone clientele, Crans-Montana is mainly popular with wealthy European visitors.
Brozzo said the venue was spread over two floors, with a bar on the main level and narrow stairs leading to a basement nightclub.
He said it was possible people became trapped below and incapacitated by smoke.
Earlier on Thursday, Valais canton president Mathias Reynard said a moment of celebration had “turned into a nightmare”.
“I can’t hide from you that we are all shaken by what happened overnight in Crans,” he told a news conference.
Le Constellation opened in 2015 and could accommodate up to 300 people indoors, with space for 40 more on a heated terrace, French media reported.
The owner of a clothing store opposite the bar said the venue was popular with younger people, including teenagers.
François, 17, a ski instructor, said New Year’s Eve parties were known for more relaxed age checks at the entrance.
Finally, local authorities urged caution in the coming days, warning that medical services in the tourist-heavy region were already under severe strain.