ZURICH: Teenagers as young as 14 and 15 were among those who died in the New Year’s Eve bar fire that killed 40 people in Switzerland, police said on Sunday, as the Pope offered his sympathies to the victims and their families.
Police in Valais said they had identified 16 more of those who died in the blaze in Crans-Montana, one of the worst disasters in recent Swiss history.
The newly identified victims included 10 Swiss nationals, two Italians, one person with Italian-Emirati citizenship, one Romanian, one person from France and one from Turkey, Valais police said. No names were released.
Hundreds of mourners attended a church service in the town on Sunday morning, where Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey said condolences had poured in from around the world, including from the Pope.
“Countless people join us — people whose hearts are broken,” Lovey told the service. “Many expressions of sympathy and solidarity reach us.
“Pope Leo XIV joins in our sorrow,” he added. “In a moving message, he expresses his compassion and his care for the victims’ families and strengthens the courage of all who are suffering.”
The youngest person identified so far is a 14-year-old Swiss girl, while two 15-year-old girls, also from Switzerland, were among the dead.
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