Switzerland - "Several dozen" dead and about 100 injured in explosion in bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss ski resort, 1 January 2026

[Charlot123]

Wow!

https://twitter.com/x/status/2007244927093096823

"A hero banker saved ten youngsters from the Swiss ski resort inferno
by forcing open an emergency door
after his teenage daughter rang him pleading for help.

Paolo Campolo, 55,
raced from his home in Crans-Montana to Le Constellation bar,
where he prized open a side door to allow panicked revellers to run for their lives.

Mr Campolo, a Swiss-Italian financial analyst,
rushed to the scene after his distraught daughter called him to say her boyfriend and friends were trapped inside while she was waiting to enter.

With the main entrance blocked up by people cramming to escape,
he identified a door off to the side and forced it open.

Speaking from his hospital bed,
where he is being treated for smoke inhalation,
the heroic father recalled the harrowing scene that lay behind the door.

'There were several bodies all around. Alive but burnt.
Some conscious, others not'.

Working with another man,
Mr Campolo managed to pull open the other door,
behind which he could see
'hands and faces',
and several people immediately spilled out.

'I didn't think about the pain, the smoke, the danger.
I pulled kids out with my bare hands.
One after the other.
They were alive but injured, many of them seriously'."

View attachment 634670

He is a great guy but this photo is damning to the owners, too. It doesn't look like an easily opened door.

 

[Dotta]

There sure was an extensive system of pipes in the ceiling, below the foam. I wonder what they were for.

IMO
Probably elements of the ventilation or air conditioning system.

 

[NuttMegg]

If he had to identify the door and "force it open" it is damning to the owners...

I am confused, it doesn't seem to be the main door, it could be the patio door?

 

[acutename]

There sure was an extensive system of pipes in the ceiling, below the foam. I wonder what they were for.

I wondered if they were HVAC or something else and if they were part of the problem

 

[Charlot123]

.

I am confused, it doesn't seem to be the main door, it could be the patio door?

This is what it seems to me.

The main door was upstairs. The way the article present it, Mr. Campolo located the "door off to the side and forced it open".

Meaning, it could not be seen or easily opened from inside.

 

[mickey2942]

This is the promotion for the club. They haven't taken it down yet. Look at the sparklers on the champagne.

It looks like whenever a table ordered bottle service of the champagne, this was the "magic" to show everyone in the club..."Ohhh, ahhh"....

 

[NuttMegg]

IMO
Probably elements of the ventilation or air conditioning system.

I'll try to find it again, there is a system of small diameter pipes visible in the ceiling, reminds me of a sprinkler system in a greenhouse, for misting. But apparently there were no sprinklers. All the ones I've ever seen in buildings are those ones kind of like a nozzle that force water out in a circular pattern.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2007263084289704300

"The Swiss ski bar that catastrophically burst into flames on New Year's Eve
used the same insulation foam as Grenfell Tower,
a former firefighter commander has claimed.

After viewing pictures and videos from inside Le Constellation,
Steve Dudney said
he believes the foam that can be seen igniting was
a highly flammable material called polyurethane (PU).

A type of PU was among the materials in the walls of Grenfell Tower,
and this cladding was found to be one of the main reasons
the 2017 fire spread so quickly and killed 72 residents.

Some 72 people died when Grenfell Tower caught fire in June 2017,
and the building's cladding material is known to have helped the flames spread."

 

[NuttMegg]

I'll try to find it again, there is a system of small diameter pipes visible in the ceiling, reminds me of a sprinkler system in a greenhouse, for misting. But apparently there were no sprinklers. All the ones I've ever seen in buildings are those ones kind of like a nozzle that force water out in a circular pattern.

Timestamp 33 secs. Pipe system in ceiling. Unless it was support for the foam? But looks detached. There are better pics. All we know about deadly ski resort fire - and why it spread so fast

 

[acutename]

I'll try to find it again, there is a system of small diameter pipes visible in the ceiling, reminds me of a sprinkler system in a greenhouse, for misting. But apparently there were no sprinklers. All the ones I've ever seen in buildings are those ones kind of like a nozzle that force water out in a circular pattern.

try #113 above and #139

 

[MelmothTheLost]

"The Swiss ski bar that catastrophically burst into flames on New Year's Eve
used the same insulation foam as Grenfell Tower,
a former firefighter commander has claimed.

After viewing pictures and videos from inside Le Constellation,
Steve Dudney said
he believes the foam that can be seen igniting was
a highly flammable material called polyurethane (PU).

It's not as simple as that though. Some insulation panels and some acoustic foam are treated with fire-retardant chemicals and some aren't. I suspect we'll find that in this case as well, it will turn out that non-fire retardant materials were used out of ignorance or a desire to reduce costs, although it's also possible that fraud was involved, ie the foam panels were supplied as fire-retardant but weren't.

 

[acutename]

It's not as simple as that though. Some insulation panels and some acoustic foam are treated with fire-retardant chemicals and some aren't. I suspect we'll find that in this case as well, it will turn out that non-fire retardant materials were used out of ignorance or a desire to reduce costs, although it's also possible that fraud was involved, ie the foam panels were supplied as fire-retardant but weren't.

yes- mislabeled or mis-supplied and I think the work on this was in 2020- covid- supply chain problems, etc.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

yes- mislabeled or mis-supplied and I think the work on this was in 2020- covid- supply chain problems, etc.

The Morettis bought the premises in 2015 so that was obviously before Covid and before the Covid-related squeeze on supply chains. I expect the upcoming investigation and enquiry will identify the source of the foam, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was manufactured in China and not what it purported to be. Here in the UK there has long been a problem with counterfeit car parts, including brake pads and airbags, made in China, labeled with major brand names and supplied especially into the back street garage/repair shop market.

Drivers warned as Government launches car parts crack down

Police recently seized 500 counterfeit car airbags

www.independent.co.uk

Thousands of 'potentially lethal' fake vehicle parts seized

The operation by South Gloucestershire trading standards found counterfeit parts at a storage unit.

www.bbc.co.uk

Counterfeit vehicle parts

How to identify and avoid buying fake car parts and how to report.

www.gov.uk

 

[504cats]

If you read back over the thread, posters have criticized the use of acoustic foam practically from post #1. I sure don't see any victim blami

Both.

- a building that can embrace up to 300 people is built not according to the proper codes
- an inspection that neglects checking the fire hazards
- no additional exits, exits blocked or not properly marked. Why did people have to unblock the exit from the outside? Was it locked???
- a lounge may have relaxed requirements only if it is a room lounge. Given that "the lounge" has no restrictions in terms of the size, it will be hard to understand the need to "relax" the requirements about the exits
- finally, yes, use of fireworks inside a crammed bar. It is not victim blaming. It was allowed by the owners and... sorry, they are not victims.

Ah, well maybe I’m shooting the messenger here- my parents knew some folks who died at station and I assumed the world knew about the dangers of this foam by now. Even the band that was playing that night got sued, it’s a really big deal around here and this foam is very strictly regulated, at least in RI. This stuff is like napalm. It’s just sad to think of all the folks around here who have family who perished that night, and how hard they fought to prevent another tragedy. Yet here we are all over again due to greed.
I don’t think the owners are victims, I meant that the drunk folks and servers who, even if they may have been literally been playing with fire, did not know the risk they were taking because they didn’t know the owners had already doomed them to a preventable firey death once the acoustic foam was installed- it was a ticking time bomb, anything could and would have set it off eventually. I just hope people take “acoustic foam is dangerous and highly flammable” out of this rather than just another (obvious) warning against using any kind of firework being used indoors.

 

[airportwoman]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2007263084289704300

"The Swiss ski bar that catastrophically burst into flames on New Year's Eve
used the same insulation foam as Grenfell Tower,
a former firefighter commander has claimed.

After viewing pictures and videos from inside Le Constellation,
Steve Dudney said
he believes the foam that can be seen igniting was
a highly flammable material called polyurethane (PU).

A type of PU was among the materials in the walls of Grenfell Tower,
and this cladding was found to be one of the main reasons
the 2017 fire spread so quickly and killed 72 residents.

View attachment 634687

Some 72 people died when Grenfell Tower caught fire in June 2017,
and the building's cladding material is known to have helped the flames spread."

If you look closely at the Daily Mail picture, MOLTEN INSULATION IS DRIPPING FROM THE CEILING. Yes, I'm shouting. I saw a snippet from a video that displayed exactly that, but I won't post it here because it contains a lot of profanity (in English, by the host). I can also assure y'all that no matter what those bodies looked like when they were found, many of them asphyxiated long before the fire got them, from those fumes.

 

[Dotta]

"The municipality itself controls the situation.​

The Zurich Forensic Institute is now preparing an expert report on the case. The central question already arises:
Was this club actually properly inspected and approved?

The canton of Valais has a unique feature:
unlike most other cantons,
there is no mandatory building insurance.

Fire protection is not the responsibility of the canton, but of the municipalities
– where everyone knows everyone else.

Crans-Montana also has its own fire safety officer responsible for inspections and safety.

The municipal council bears the political responsibility.
At a press conference on Thursday,
the mayor could not say whether the club had even been approved for so many guests.

Now not only Switzerland is looking at Valais
– but the whole world.
The victims are people from several countries.
Hundreds of relatives are waiting for answers."

Wer trägt Verantwortung für das Inferno von Crans-Montana?

Mindestens 40 Tote, 119 Verletzte: Die Tragödie von Crans-Montana ist kein reiner Schicksalsschlag – sie wirft Fragen zum Versagen des Walliser Brandschutz-Systems auf. Wer trug wirklich die Verantwortung, bevor es brannte? Ein Kommentar.

www.blick.ch

 

[Rikissa]

Some of those still missing:

Swiss ski resort fire: Families of missing teens desperate for news

Families are appealing for information about children as young as 15 who are thought to have been at the bar.

www.bbc.com

 

[Charlot123]

"The municipality itself controls the situation.​

The Zurich Forensic Institute is now preparing an expert report on the case. The central question already arises:
Was this club actually properly inspected and approved?

The canton of Valais has a unique feature:
unlike most other cantons,
there is no mandatory building insurance.

Fire protection is not the responsibility of the canton, but of the municipalities
– where everyone knows everyone else.

Crans-Montana also has its own fire safety officer responsible for inspections and safety.

The municipal council bears the political responsibility.
At a press conference on Thursday,
the mayor could not say whether the club had even been approved for so many guests.

Now not only Switzerland is looking tat Valais
– but the whole world.
The victims are people from several countries.
Hundreds of relatives are waiting for answers."

Wer trägt Verantwortung für das Inferno von Crans-Montana?

Mindestens 40 Tote, 119 Verletzte: Die Tragödie von Crans-Montana ist kein reiner Schicksalsschlag – sie wirft Fragen zum Versagen des Walliser Brandschutz-Systems auf. Wer trug wirklich die Verantwortung, bevor es brannte? Ein Kommentar.

www.blick.ch

My husband has the theory that corruption is less typical for countries with small populations, such as Denmark or Switzerland because “if you steal something, everyone sees it”.

Obviously, not so easy. “It is not Switzerland’s responsibility, each canton has different rules”.

The canton: “it is not Valais, it is the municipality”.

The municipality (looks through papers): we have a fire safety officer here…

I think they’ll find out that the cafe’s barman also oversees the fire safety and he’ll be the fall guy

And of course, the owners followed all the rules Le Constellation’s owners say they followed safety regulations

To be honest, I had some feeling of respect towards the Morettis, because unlike Mr. Denis Shtengelov, the owner of a trade complex in Kemerovo, Siberia, that suffered a devastating fire in 2018, who was staying abroad and letting the people below him take the fall, the Morettis remain in Switzerland. But then I found out that perhaps they are not expected to leave the country because the level of charge is not clear

 

[detective.moon]

Five victims of the Crans Montana fire, all under the age of 18, are currently being treated at the burn center at Zurich Children's Hospital (Kispi). The young patients are in induced comas, with some suffering burns to over 70 percent of their bodies. In the first few days, the aim is to determine the extent of the injuries and remove the injured skin that is no longer supplied with blood as quickly as possible, explains chief physician Kathrin Neuhaus in the “Tagesschau” news program. In a second step, the skin must be replaced with the patient's own skin in numerous operations. Neuhaus speaks of a double-digit number of procedures that will be necessary. Additional operating rooms will be opened: “At the moment, we are planning to operate on every patient every other day.” Other planned operations at the children's hospital will now have to be postponed.

Katastrophe in Crans-Montana - 71 Schweizer unter Verletzten ++ Bengalkerzen wohl die Ursache

Während einer Silvesterparty in einer Bar in Crans-Montana sind mehrere Dutzend Menschen tödlich verletzt worden.

www.srf.ch

 

[detective.moon]

some more information about what treatment and (hopefully) recovery will look like..

The first 24 to 48 hours are referred to as the acute phase. During this phase, oxygen, fluids, electrolytes, and proteins must be administered. The wounds and organs are monitored, and sometimes surgery is already performed. During the acute phase, patients are sometimes placed in an artificial coma.

Oxygen is one of the first aspects of treatment to be administered. “If the mucous membrane of the windpipe swells after damage caused by hot air, a tube must be inserted as quickly as possible.”

Victims who have inhaled toxic gases must also be given extra oxygen. “We sometimes increase the pressure of that oxygen so that toxic gases such as carbon monoxide in the lungs and bloodstream can be flushed out.”

Many of the seriously injured victims have external burns. “The larger the burned area, the greater the risk,” explains burn specialist Keli Jansen of the Rotterdam Burn Center. Some of the injured have burns covering 60 percent of their bodies, i.e., 60 percent of their total skin surface. “Your fingers and palm together account for one percent,” says Jansen.

Jansen explains that the skin is the first barrier against everything from the outside, such as bacteria and viruses. “With a large-area burn, a large part of that barrier is gone. Infections can enter more easily, your immune system is working at full speed, and you lose many important substances, including moisture. This can make the body very ill.”

A third-degree burn does not heal on its own. It must be covered with the patient's own skin tissue. Van Zuijlen: "If someone has 60 percent third-degree burns, that means we still have 40 percent skin to harvest, as we call it. The wounds are covered with skin grafts. We have all kinds of techniques for stretching skin cleverly and using it effectively."

<Modsnip: limited copy of an article allowed>

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