"The blaze broke out around 1.30am on Thursday. Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside the bar when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders as she held a lighted candle in a bottle. The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling, they told the broadcaster. People frantically tried to escape from the basement nightclub up a narrow flight of stairs and through a narrow door, causing a crowd surge, one of the women said."
"A young man at the scene said people smashed windows to escape the fire, some gravely injured, reported BFMTV. He said he saw about 20 people scrambling to get out of the smoke and flames, likening what happened to a horror movie. While officials said on Thursday it was too early to determine the fire's cause, investigators have already ruled out the possibility of an attack."
Forty people were killed and 119 injured in a blaze at a Crans-Montana bar while revellers celebrated New Year's Eve. The fire swept through the crowded basement nightclub less than two hours after midnight, causing many serious injuries and mass panic. Witnesses described a bartender lifting a colleague holding a lit candle in a bottle, after which flames spread and the wooden ceiling collapsed. People tried to flee up a narrow stair and through a narrow door, triggering a crowd surge; others smashed windows to escape. Investigators ruled out an attack and work is under way to identify the dead and inform families. Authorities used the term "embrasement generalise" to describe the violent ignition of combustible gases.
Read at Irish Independent
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