Accounts from several witnesses to the tragedy help shed light on the particularly chaotic circumstances of the bar’s evacuation, BFMTV reports.

Smoke was first noticed around 1:30 a.m., while the party was still in full swing. Footage—shared in particular by the specialist account “Vincent-Firelife”—shows the very first moments of the blaze, when staff still believed they had the fire under control. According to another post relayed by BFMTV, sparklers attached to champagne bottles may have been the cause of the fire.

The situation spiraled out of control after an initial “blast.” Customers began running to escape as quickly as possible.

“The fire spread very, very fast and the smoke burned our eyes. We couldn’t breathe,” said Laëtitia, a 17-year-old survivor.

Two other bar patrons, Axel and Nathan, recalled the “chaos” that unfolded:

“We were in a basement, trying to get out. I had to flip a table over and hide behind it to avoid being burned. People were trying to escape,” they told BFMTV.
“I managed to kick the window, it fell, and then we got out,” they added.

The seconds before the deadly bar fire in Crans-Montana

As the flames spread, panic set in:

“Everyone was pushing like crazy,” Laëtitia added. She found herself “under three or four people who were burning,” while “dead people” were already lying around her.
“I raised my hands, I screamed, a boy I didn’t know pulled me, and I managed to get out thanks to him,” she said.

Other witnesses described a “horrific crowd surge”:

“In just a few dozen seconds, the entire nightclub caught fire,” and “customers were running out screaming.”

Amid the chaos, some patrons smashed windows, while others—crying, their clothes burned—desperately worried about loved ones still trapped inside.

The latest toll from the tragedy stands at around 40 dead and about 100 injured, many of them seriously. Identifying the bodies could take several days.