Several dozen dead after explosion hits Swiss ski resort bar

Emergency services have been responding overnight after a powerful blast tore through a crowded bar in the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana as New Year celebrations were underway.

UPDATE:
We have moved coverage of the explosion in Crans-Montana to new live updates. Please follow here.

Several dozen people were killed and others injured after a blast at the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana, Swiss police said early Thursday.

Police said the blast occurred at around 1:30 a.m. (0030 UTC/GMT) local time at Le Constellation, a venue popular with tourists, as visitors were ringing in the New Year.

What happened in Crans-Montana?

A police spokesperson said more than 100 people had been in the bar at the time of the incident. Police, firefighters and several helicopters were on site in the aftermath. The reason for the explosion was initially given to be "unknown."

"Several dozen people are presumed to have died," Frederic Gisler, police commander in the Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland, told reporters.

Police said earlier that many people had been treated for burns.

"The fire started around 1:30 a.m. this morning in a bar called 'Le Constellation,'" police spokesperson Gaetan Lathion said. "More than a hundred people were in the building, and we are seeing many injured and many dead."

"We're just at the beginning of our investigation, but this is a internationally renowned ski resort with lots of tourists," Lathion said. "We are seeing many injured and many dead."

Police said the area had been completely closed off, and a no-fly zone was ‍imposed over Crans-Montana.

Edited by: Sean Sinico