Tragedy rocks resort

ABOUT 40 people were killed and another 115 injured, most of them seriously, after a fire ripped through a new year celebration at a bar in a Swiss Alpine resort, police said.

- 

At thetime of going to press, authorities did not have an exact count of the deceased.

The Crans-Montana resort is best known as an international ski and golf venue and, overnight, its crowded Le Constellation bar morphed from a scene of revelry into the site of potentially one of Switzerland's worst tragedies.

Valais Canton police commander Frederic Gisler said at a news conference yesterday that work was under way to identify the victims and inform their families.

Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Canton attorney general, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire, which broke out less than two hours after midnight on Thursday.

"At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack," Ms Pilloud said.