• Police say victim identification may take days or weeks.
• Cause unclear; authorities rule out an attack.
• Witnesses point to sparklers on champagne bottles as trigger.

CRANS-MONTANA: Investigators raced on Friday to identify the victims of a fire that ripped through a bar in the Swiss Alps town of Crans-Montana, turning a New Year’s celebration into one of the country’s worst tragedies.

It is not yet clear what set off the blaze at Le Constellation, killing around 40 people and injuring at least 115 others, many seriously.

Bystanders described scenes of panic and chaos as people tried to break the windows to escape and others, covered in burns, poured into the street.

Swiss police warned it could take days or even weeks to identify everyone who perished, leaving an agonising wait for family and friends.

“We’ve tried to reach our friends. We took loads of photos and posted them on Instagram, Facebook, all possible social networks to try to find them,” said Eleonore, 17. “But there’s nothing. No response.”

“Even the parents don’t know,” she added.

The exact number of people who were at the bar when it went up in flames remains unclear, and police have not specified how many are still missing.

Le Constellation had a capacity of 300 people, plus another 40 people on its terrace, according to the Crans-Montana website.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who took over on Thursday, called the fire “a calamity of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” and announced that flags would be flown at half mast for five days.

He said authorities were “in close contact with the victims’ families, whom we are informing in real time, as well as with the various embassies involved”.

“Given the international nature of the Crans resort, we can expect foreign nationals to be among the victims,” he told reporters.

The canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said significant resources have been deployed “to identify the victims and return their bodies to the families as quickly as possible”.

‘The apocalypse’

The fire broke out around 1:30am (0030 GMT) Thursday at Le Constellation, a bar popular with young tourists.

“We thought it was just a small fire — but when we got there, it was war,” Mathys, from neighbouring Chermignon-d’en-Bas, told AFP. “That’s the only word I can use to describe it: the apocalypse. It was terrible.”

Authorities have declined to speculate on what caused the tragedy, saying only that it was not an attack.

Several witness accounts, broadcast by Swiss, French and Italian media, meanwhile, pointed to sparklers that were apparently mounted on champagne bottles held aloft by restaurant staff as part of a regular “show” for patrons who made special orders to their tables.

There were “waitresses with champagne bottles and little sparklers. They got too close to the ceiling, and suddenly it all caught fire”, Axel, a witness present at the time of the incident, told the Italian media outlet Local Team.

Pilloud said the investigation would look into whether the bar met safety standards and had the required number of exits.

Red and white caution tape, flowers and candles adorned the street where the tragedy occurred, while police shielded the site with white screens.

After the emergency units at the local hospitals filled up, many of the injured were transported across Switzerland and to neighbouring countries.

The European Union said it has been in contact with Swiss authorities about providing medical assistance, while French President Emmanuel Macron said some of the injured were being cared for in French hospitals.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italian broadcaster Rete 4 that around 15 Italians had been injured in the fire, and a similar number remained missing.

The French foreign ministry said nine French citizens figured among the injured, and eight others remained unaccounted for.

Multiple sources told AFP that the bar owners are French nationals: a couple originally from Corsica who, according to a relative, are safe, but have been unreachable since the tragedy.

• Vows to set an example for the world through New York’s leadership.
• Centres his message on cost-of-living pressures and economic justice
• Promises to stand with those he said were betrayed by established order.

Zohran Mamdani promised Thursday to show left-wing politics can succeed as he took over as New York mayor for a term sure to see him cross swords with US President Donald Trump.

Thousands of people gathered in freezing conditions in the United States’ largest city to celebrate the 34-year-old Democrat’s inauguration after his impressive political rise from relative anonymity just a year ago.

“They want to know if the left can govern. They want to know if the struggles that afflict them can be solved,” Mamdani said outside City Hall.

“We will do something that New Yorkers do better than anyone else: we will set an example for the world,” he added in a 24-minute speech.

Mamdani, New York’s first Muslim mayor, emphasised the cost-of-living issues that were central to his mayoral campaign, as he promised to help those “betrayed by the established order”.

Left-wing allies Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also delivered remarks in front of some 4000 ticketed guests.

Thousands more people thronged downtown Manhattan, many wearing yellow and blue beanies emblazoned with “Zohran”, to watch Mamdani’s ceremony on large screens.

“This is the first time that either of us in our entire lives has felt some kind of political hope at all,” 31-year-old Jacob Byerly, a scientist, told AFP alongside his wife, Auburn.

Ambitious agenda

It remains to be seen if Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, can deliver on his ambitious agenda, which envisions rent freezes, universal childcare and free public buses.

Once an election is over, “symbolism only goes so far with voters. Results begin to matter a whole lot more”, New York University lecturer John Kane said.

How Trump behaves could be decisive.

The Republican, himself a New Yorker, has repeatedly criticised Mamdani, but the pair held surprisingly cordial talks at the White House in November.

But one flashpoint might be immigration raids as Trump wages an expanding crackdown on migrants across the United States.

Mamdani has vowed to protect immigrant communities.

Before the November vote, the president also threatened to slash federal funding for New York if it picked Mamdani, whom he called a “communist lunatic”.

The mayor has said he believes Trump is a fascist.

Symbolic inauguration

Mamdani’s inauguration was jam-packed with symbolism.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud, performed a private midnight swearing-in at an abandoned subway station.

Mamdani’s office said the understated venue beneath City Hall reflected his commitment to working people.

And in a first for the city, Mamdani used Korans to be sworn in as mayor – two from his family and one that belonged to Puerto Rico-born Black writer Arturo Schomburg, The New York Times reported.

The new job comes with a change of address as he swaps his rent-controlled apartment in the borough of Queens for Gracie Mansion, the luxurious mayor’s residence on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Some had wondered if he would move to the official mansion given his campaigning on affordability issues. Mamdani said he was doing so mainly for security reasons.

Born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin, Mamdani moved to New York at the age of seven and enjoyed an elite upbringing, with only a relatively brief stint in politics.

To compensate for his inexperience, he is surrounding himself with seasoned aides recruited from past mayoral administrations and former US President Joe Biden’s government.

Mamdani has also opened dialogue with business leaders, some of whom predicted a massive exodus of wealthy New Yorkers if he won. Real estate leaders have debunked those claims.

As a defender of Palestinian rights, he will have to reassure the city’s Jewish community – the largest in the US – of his inclusive leadership.

Recently, one of his hires resigned after it was revealed she had posted antisemitic tweets years ago.

• Khawaja to retire after fifth Ashes Test.
• Hopes to inspire youngsters who are “different.”
• Batter hits out at media treatment after recent injury.

Star Aussie batter Usman Khawaja on Friday said he hoped his long Test career, which will come to an end with his retirement after the fifth Ashes clash, inspires youngsters who are “different” that playing cricket for Australia is possible.

The top order batsman, who turned 39 last month, announced on Friday that he would be retiring from international cricket after his 88th Test, which will start at Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Khawaja made his Test debut at the same ground in the final match of the 2010-11 Ashes series and has since scored 6,206 runs at an average of 43.39, including 16 centuries.

More than his runs, however, Khawaja was a standard-bearer for diversity in Australian cricket, given he was born in Pakistan before being raised in Sydney from the age of five.

“I hope I’ve inspired many children along the way, particularly those who feel that they are different, those who feel that they don’t belong, or those others tell that they will never make it,” Khawaja told reporters at a press conference.

“I felt all these things growing up and trying to be an Australian cricketer, but seeing is believing. And I’m here to tell you that you can do whatever you want. Just got to keep trying.

“I’m a proud Muslim, coloured boy from Pakistan who was told that he would never play for the Australian cricket team. Look at me now. You can do the same.”

Khawaja batted for most of his Test career at the top of the middle order but lost his spot in the side for the 2021-22 Ashes series to Marnus Labuschagne.

He was, however, called up at the last minute when Travis Head contracted COVID ahead of the Sydney Test and revived his career with centuries in both innings.

Opening with Warner

After that, Khawaja moved up to form a successful opening partnership with David Warner, who retired from Test cricket after the SCG Test two years ago.

In this Ashes series, he injured his back in the opener in Perth and missed the second Test before initially being dropped from the team for the third in Adelaide.

He was again recalled at the eleventh hour after Steve Smith suffered a bout of vertigo and, batting at number four rather than opening, scored 82 and 40 as Australia won by 82 runs to clinch the series and retain the urn.

Khawaja said his treatment by the media after the back injury in Perth was proof that he was still treated differently from other players because of his background.

“The way the media and the past players came out and attacked me … I copped it for about five days straight,” he recalled.

“It was quite personal in terms of things like, ‘he’s not committed to the team. He was only worried about himself. He played this golf comp the day before.

“He’s selfish. He doesn’t train hard enough. He didn’t train the day before the game. He’s lazy. These are the same racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with my whole life.

“I just want the journey for the next Usman Khawaja to be different,” he added. “I want you to treat him the same, not have racial stereotypes of who they might be.”