BERN — Investigators are continuing their efforts 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.

Relatives and friends have been scrambling to find their loved ones, with many circulating photos on social media after the disaster that happened in the early hours of 2026, killing about 40 people and injuring about 115 others, many seriously.

It is not yet clear what set off the blaze at Le Constellation.

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.

"Behind these figures are faces, names, families, lives brutally cut short, completely interrupted, or forever changed," Parmelin said at a press conference.

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

"Given the international nature of the Crans resort, we can expect foreign nationals to be among the victims," local police commander Frederic Gisler said.

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.

"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 fire broke out around 1:30 am 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, said. "That's the only word I can use to describe it: the apocalypse."

Nathan, who was in the bar before the blaze, saw burned people streaming out of the site.

"They were asking for help, crying out for help," he said.

Officials have started the arduous process of identifying the victims, but with some of the bodies badly burned, police warned the process could take days or even weeks.

“The first objective is to assign names to all the bodies,” Crans-Montana’s mayor Nicolas Feraud told a news conference on Thursday evening. This, he said, could take days.

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, pointed to sparklers apparently mounted on champagne bottles and held aloft by restaurant staff as part of a regular "show" for patrons who made special orders to their tables.

The canton's chief prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said investigators 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 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 the media that the bar owners are French nationals: a couple originally from Corsica who are reportedly safe, but have been unreachable since the tragedy. — Agencies