Authorities point to a flare as the cause of the New Year's Eve fire at a bar in Switzerland.

BarcelonaSwiss authorities are still investigating the origin of The fire in a bar on the corner of Valais on New Year's Eve, which has left at least 40 dead and 119 injuredMost of the injured are very serious, so the death toll could rise. "A large number of the injured, perhaps between 80 and 100, are in danger of dying," Stéphane Ganzer, the region's health and safety official, told French radio station RTL. The number of injured has increased by four in the last few hours, bringing the current total to 119. Regarding the cause of the fire, the Valais regional prosecutor, Béatrice Pilloud, pointed to flares placed inside champagne bottles: "They were placed too close to the ceiling, which caught fire rapidly." This is the leading hypothesis being investigated by authorities, and it is consistent with the testimony of several witnesses and videos of the fire starting. Patrons who frequent the bar say that bottles containing sparklers are common at the establishment, but in this case the pyrotechnics reportedly set the ceiling on fire.Le Constellation.

The fire spread rapidly through the bar, which is a basement establishment with only one entrance, creating a fatal bottleneck. While awaiting confirmation of the cause, Swiss media also suggested that the fire may have been started by pyrotechnic devices used during a concert.

Monitoring of hospitalized patients

The death toll is feared to rise in the coming hours, as several of the hospitalized injured have severe burns. "When 15 percent or more of an adult's body has third-degree burns, there is a risk of death in the following days and hours," warned Ganzer. Swiss authorities are reporting 40 deaths, but Italy, one of the countries from which many of the victims are believed to originate, puts the figure at 47, and its Foreign Minister deemed the use of flares in the bar "irresponsible." The count is also complicated because most of the deceased, and some of the injured, have not yet been identified. Only the first bodies were identified this Friday morning. Italy reports 13 hospitalized and six missing, while France reports nine and eight, respectively. So far, according to the Spanish Foreign Ministry, no Spanish citizens are reported missing. Meanwhile, several family members and friends have made appeals through social media asking for help in finding the missing.

"The first objective is to assign names to all the bodies," the mayor of Crans-Montana, the town where the burned-down bar is located, stated Thursday evening. Faced with charred bodies—and in many cases their documents—the head of government of this corner of Valais explained that identifications are being carried out using dental and DNA samples, and Swiss authorities have indicated that it could take days to identify everyone.

Spontaneous tribute to the victims

On Thursday evening, hundreds of people gathered in silence near Le Constellation to pay tribute to the victims. Some brought flowers and candles, and a makeshift altar was formed by the road leading to the bar, which remained in place on Friday, a day on which displays of support and tributes continued in Crans-Montana.