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A TEEN survivor of the devastating Swiss bar fire has shared his experience of how he rushed back inside to save those trapped in the tragedy that claimed 47 lives.
Student Ferdinand Du Beaudiez, 19, was celebrating with seven friends—including his brother and girlfriend—inside Le Constellation when the fire ignited at the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana.
Ferdinand Du Beaudiez was inside the Constellation bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans Montana, where sparklers in champagne bottles caused a fireCredit: Doug Seeburg
The teen battled through the raging flames and made his way to a narrow staircase before escapingCredit: Doug Seeburg
Footage captured the moment the fire broke out inside the crowded barCredit: Doug Seeburg
As the flames engulfed the venue, Ferdinand pushed through the intense heat and made his way to a narrow staircase before escaping to safety.
However, he could not abandon his friends and brother, so he bravely returned to search for them.
Ferdinand, who was vacationing with family in the Alps, recounted to The Sun: “I went back inside and found someone lying on the stairs.
“They were completely burned.”
He described the body as so charred that he could only see their teeth.
“I couldn’t tell if it was a woman or a man; I could only see teeth,” he said.
“I grabbed them, but they felt incredibly heavy—like a dead weight.
Even their clothing was burned.
“I took their arms and dragged them along the ground to get them outside. I went back in a second time, but the smoke was thicker, and I couldn’t breathe or see anything.”
Ferdinand was taken to a makeshift triage center at a nearby sports facility, where medics arrived to assist the injured.
Victims were provided with foil blankets and gel masks for their burns amid the major emergency response.
Ferdinand stated: “As time passed, more and more people arrived, increasingly burned.”
“At that point, firefighters and medics assigned categories: I was in the green category. There was also yellow, and then red; I assume black, but those had already been taken to the hospitals.”
Ferdinand's brother was later rescued and is among 115 individuals hospitalized, with his condition critical but stable as he remains in a coma.
Police commander Frédéric Gisler confirmed that the fire “started in the basement of the bar,” leading to a crush as people desperately tried to escape via the single staircase.
Panicked New Year’s Eve partygoers were “screaming and fleeing” for their lives as the inferno consumed the venue, resulting in many being trapped inside.
Survivors, some as young as 15, have been transported to hospitals across Switzerland and even abroad to France, Germany, and Belgium.
Images from inside the bar moments before the blaze spread, with the foam soundproofing ignitedCredit: Doug Seeburg
A waitress at Le Constellation sitting on a colleague's shoulders while holding a sparklerCredit: BMFTV
It has been confirmed that the first victim of the tragedy was identified as Emanuele Galeppini, a 16-year-old Italian golfer.
The Italian Golf Federation announced Galeppini's death, mourning the loss of a “young athlete who embodied passion and authentic values.”
Families now face an “unbearable” wait for the identification of victims, as officials stated that the process will “take time” and potentially extend over several days.
A distraught mother is searching for her teenage son and nine school friends who remain unaccounted for.
Laetitia Brodard expressed her
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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