'It has hit us hard': resort grieves as victims are identified

Mourners have continued to bring flowers and to light candles at a makeshift memorial in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana to commemorate those who lost their lives when a blaze ripped through a bar popular with young people celebrating the new year, killing 40.

- By Angela Giuffrida

"We came to light a candle," said Sisi Boisard, a regular visitor to Crans-Montana from France for the past 20 years. "We have five children and can't begin to imagine what these families are going through. This is a tragedy that has cut profoundly, but not just here - it's being felt across the world."

She and her husband, Arlindo, were celebrating the new year with their daughter, who lives in a nearby town, when they heard about the fire.

Last Sunday, police said they had identified all of those killed in the fire at Le Constellation. The victims range in age from 14 to 39 years old, with 15 aged under 18. The group includes people of Swiss, Italian, Romanian, Turkish, Portuguese, French and Belgian nationalities, as well as a citizen of the UK, France and Israel.

Police said on Monday the number of wounded was revised from 119 to 116 because three people admitted to accident and emergency wards last Thursday morning had been wrongly recorded as injured in the blaze.

Identifying the dead and injured had been a painstaking process owing to the extent of their burns.