Politics
Swiss resort fire likely started by sparkler candles, shows initial findings
- Severe burns making identification of bodies challenging: officials.
- Say dozens transferred to specialist burn units across Europe.
- Many of those injured are fighting for their lives: Valais area chief.
Dozens of young partygoers hurt in a New Year’s Eve bar fire in Switzerland were transferred to specialist burn units across Europe with serious injuries on Friday after being hit by the devastating blaze, which has killed at least 40.
Initial findings showed the fire that spread among the mostly young crowd of revellers in Le Constellation bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana was likely caused by sparkler candles being carried too close to the ceiling, the local prosecutor said.
Meanwhile, investigators focused on the painful task of identifying the burned bodies, warning that this process was very sensitive and would take time.
So severe were the burns that Swiss officials said it could take days before they name all those killed in the fire. The official toll is 40 dead, while 119 have been injured, many of them very seriously. Those numbers are not final, officials said.
“Many of those injured are still fighting for their lives today,” Valais area chief Mathias Reynard told a news conference.
Around 50 of the injured have been, or will be, transferred to burn units in hospitals elsewhere in Europe, he said. Germany and France are among the countries treating some of the injured.
Of the injured, 113 have been identified, 71 of whom are Swiss, 14 French, and 11 Italian, four Serbian, one Bosnian, one Belgian, one Polish, one Portuguese, and one Luxembourgish, police chief Frederic Gisler told the same news conference.
Fire likely caused by party candles
Initial investigations suggest that the fire, which tore through the Swiss ski resort bar, started when ‘fountain candles’ were carried aloft too close to the ceiling, local prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said.
“Everything suggests that the fire started from the burning candles or ‘Bengal lights’ that had been attached to champagne bottles,” she told the news conference, adding that, while this hypothesis was likely, it was not yet confirmed.
“From there, a rapid, very rapid and widespread conflagration ensued.”
The investigation was also checking whether the ceiling’s insulation foam was to blame for the rapid spread of the fire, Pilloud said.
Further investigations will show if anyone needs to be held criminally liable for negligence, she added.
Axel, who was in the basement where the fire started, told reporters he did not know how he “miraculously” made it out.
He turned over a table and hid behind it to protect himself from the fire, before making his way upstairs. “We couldn’t see anything, I was half choking,” he said.
He used a table, and then his feet, to break a window to get out, avoiding what he said was a single door that was too narrow for the many people trying to escape.
Desperate search
A 16-year-old Italian international golfer who lived in Dubai was the first victim to be identified publicly.
The Italian Golf Federation said it “mourns the passing of Emanuele Galeppini, a young athlete who carried with him passion and genuine values.”
Parents and friends of missing youths issued pleas for news of their loved ones as foreign embassies scrambled to work out if their nationals were among those caught up in one of the worst tragedies to befall modern Switzerland.
Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, the mother of 16-year-old Arthur, was looking for information near the site of the blaze.
“We are together, we are in shock, we take each other in our arms, and we cry. We try to give each other hope,” she said of her relatives and others of those missing.
Marco, a 20-year-old from Milan, told Reuters outside the Constellation bar that 20 of his friends were missing.
“Some of them are injured, in bad condition. Some of them are completely safe. And some of our friends, we don’t have any news. They told us they never found them,” he said. “Nobody can help us find our friends.”
Italian, French among the missing
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who was in Switzerland, said that 13 Italians were in hospital and six were registered as missing.
France’s embassy to Switzerland said eight French citizens were unaccounted for, while another nine had been injured and were receiving care.
Visitors and residents of Crans-Montana, which is a popular draw not only for skiers but also golfers, were stunned by the inferno.
Dozens of people left flowers or lit candles on a makeshift altar at the top of the road leading to the bar, which police had cordoned off. Some cried, others quietly hugged one another.
“It could have been us,” Emma, an 18-year-old from Geneva, said outside the cordoned-off bar.
“There was an enormous queue, so we decided not to go in,” she said. “I see those missing, and it’s all people our age.”
Elisa Sousa, 17, said she was meant to be there but ended up spending the evening at a family gathering instead.
“And honestly, I’ll need to thank my mother a hundred times for not letting me go,” she said at the vigil for the victims. “Because God knows where I’d be now.”
With elections approaching in Israel, the war with Iran has handed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an opportunity to restore an image deeply scarred by October 7, 2023 Gaza attack, experts say.
But any political dividend would depend on how the conflict unfolds and how long it lasts, they say.
A day after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was martyred in a wave of US-Israeli strikes, Netanyahu said that his close ties with Washington had enabled Israel to “do what I have long aspired to do for 40 years: to strike the terrorist regime decisively”.
The Gaza war eroded Netanyahu’s popularity. Critics have accused him of seeking to evade responsibility for the authorities’ failure to prevent the deadliest day in Israel’s history.
At 76, the leader of the right-wing Likud party is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, with more than 18 cumulative years in office across multiple stints.
Known for his political resilience, Netanyahu has been without a parliamentary majority since the summer, amid a crisis with his ultra-Orthodox religious allies.
He is also standing trial in a long-running corruption case and has sought a presidential pardon, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly pressuring President Isaac Herzog to grant one.
‘Total victory’
Elections must be held by October 27 at the latest.
Netanyahu will call early elections, says Emmanuel Navon, a political analyst at Tel Aviv University.
“It’s obvious. He won’t wait until October given the commemoration of the October 7 anniversary,” Navon said.
“If Netanyahu was at rock bottom after the Gaza attack, he has since gradually turned the tide,” he added.
A Likud party led by Netanyahu would emerge ahead in elections held today, opinion polls suggest.
That would likely see him tasked with forming the next government, though he would still lack a majority with his current allies.
A victory over Iran could change that calculus, experts say.
“This offensive undeniably reinforces the image Netanyahu seeks to cultivate, the one associated with his ‘total victory’ slogan,” independent geopolitical analyst Michael Horowitz told AFP.
“Netanyahu wants to show that this is not a campaign slogan but a reality. It is his national agenda and his electoral strategy,” he added.
‘Iran remains Iran’
Raviv Druker, a prominent journalist on Channel 13 television, argued that Netanyahu “will try to convince people that the victory is total even if that is an illusion,” noting that “Hamas still runs Gaza, and Iran remains Iran even after Saturday’s strike”.
On the popular news website Walla, journalist Ouriel Deskal went further, suggesting Netanyahu may have chosen the timing of the hostilities to automatically delay — under a state of emergency — the March 30 deadline for passing a budget for which he has struggled to secure a majority.
Without a budget, the government would fall on April 1 and elections would be called.
In that scenario, Netanyahu would enter the campaign from a position of weakness.
By contrast “if this war against Iran is a success for Israel, it will be a political victory for Netanyahu,” Navon said.
But should the war drag on, the picture could shift dramatically, Horowitz warned.
“Public tolerance for a long war with heavy casualties, combined with a high cost of living, remains extremely low,” he said.
During the war last June, Iranian missiles killed 30 people in Israel. Since Saturday, 10 people have been killed in Iran’s retaliatory strikes.
“Israel’s victories are primarily attributed to the army and to civilian resilience, which enabled the country to wage the longest war in its history,” Horowitz noted.
“The army’s popularity is rising, not necessarily Netanyahu’s.”
UAE says it will not allow its airspace to be used for attacks against Iran, announces security and economic measures amid regional tensions.The United Arab Emirates has announced it will not allow its airspace or territory to be used for attacks against Iran, as officials outlined security, economic and humanitarian measures during a media briefing in Abu Dhabi.
Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation, said the UAE’s position was “clear and measured.”
“The UAE will not permit its airspace or land to be used in any attack against Iran,” she said, adding that the country reserves the right to defend its sovereignty and ensure the safety of citizens, residents and visitors.
She also confirmed that the UAE had closed its embassy in Tehran and withdrawn its ambassador following recent Iranian attacks.
High Combat Readiness
Major General Abdul Nasser Al Humaidi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence, said the UAE would not tolerate any compromise of its sovereignty or security.
He explained that sounds heard in recent days were due to missile interceptions and confirmed that armed forces remain at a high level of combat readiness. The UAE, he said, possesses sufficient strategic defence reserves to counter aerial threats for an extended period.
Economic Measures & Supplies
On the economic front, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, said the country holds strategic reserves of essential goods sufficient for four to six months.
“There is no risk of shortages,” he said, adding that authorities are monitoring markets to prevent unjustified price increases and urging residents to avoid panic buying.
He also announced that around 80 flights per day would operate during the current phase to facilitate travel for those wishing to leave.
Daily Life Continues
The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) said daily life across the UAE continues as normal, with essential services fully operational.
The statements come amid heightened regional tensions, as Gulf countries navigate security concerns while seeking to maintain stability at home.
Iranian media has claimed that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is alive and in good health, dismissing earlier foreign media reports that suggested he had been killed.
According to Iranian outlets, Mojtaba Khamenei has fully recovered and is currently overseeing key state affairs. The reports reject claims that he was killed alongside his father during recent airstrikes.
Strikes on Iran
On Saturday, Israel and the United States reportedly carried out coordinated strikes across Iran, targeting multiple locations.
Iranian media stated that:
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The office compound of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was struck.
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The building of the Assembly of Experts in Qom was bombed.
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Explosions were also reported near Enghelab Square in Tehran.
The Assembly of Experts is the clerical body responsible for appointing Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Conflicting Reports
While foreign media earlier claimed Mojtaba Khamenei had been killed, Iranian state-linked sources have strongly denied those reports. Independent verification of the claims remains limited amid ongoing hostilities and restricted information flow.
The situation continues to evolve as regional tensions remain high.
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