19-year-old survivor recalls Swiss bar blaze

A 19-year-old student who survived a deadly fire at a Swiss ski resort bar has shared his harrowing account of the incident that claimed at least 47 lives on New Year’s Eve.

On The Sun's video, Ferdinand Du Beaudiez said he was inside Le Constellation bar at the Crans-Montana ski resort when the fire broke out.

“I took my girlfriend’s arm and screamed to everyone, ‘Get out,’” he said.

He said he eventually lost sight of her as crowds rushed up the staircase trying to escape.

“I reached the top of the stairs but fell to the ground,” he recalled.

Beaudiez said he re-entered the burning bar twice in an attempt to rescue his brother, girlfriend, and friends. He described covering his face with his arms and closing his eyes as he moved through the flames.

“I couldn’t think of leaving them in the fire while I was alive outside,” he said.

“At one point, I think someone opened the front door,” Beaudiez added, explaining how he managed to get back inside.

During his first attempt, he recalled seeing a severely burned person lying on the stairs.

“I couldn’t tell if it was a woman or a man — I could only see teeth,” he said.

“They were extremely heavy, like dead weight. Even their clothes were burned,” he added.

On his second attempt, the smoke was much thicker, and Beaudiez said he could neither breathe nor see.

He said firefighters and medics later arrived and provided survivors with foil blankets and gel masks for burns.

Beaudiez’s brother was rescued and fell into a coma but is expected to recover, according to The Sun.

Police commander Frédéric Gisler confirmed that the fire started in the basement of the bar, which had only one staircase.

Reacting to the structure, Beaudiez said: “It’s a shame they didn’t build any emergency exits and allowed the place to operate with a completely flammable roof and insulating foam.”

Authorities said 115 people were taken to hospitals, with at least 60 in critical condition. Survivors, some as young as 15, were transported to medical facilities across Switzerland, France, Germany, and Belgium.