GENEVA: Several people were killed and others injured when an explosion ripped through a bar in the luxury Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana, Swiss police said early on Thursday (Jan 1).
“There has been an explosion of unknown origin,” Gaetan Lathion, a police spokesman in Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland, told AFP.
“There are several injured, and several dead.”
Citing police, Sky News reported that at least 10 people had died in the incident, with some local media saying the figure may be higher.
He said the explosion took place at around 1.30am in a bar called Le Constellation, which is popular with tourists, as revellers rang in the new year.
Images published by Swiss media showed a building in flames, and emergency services nearby.
The area has been completely closed off, and a no-fly zone has been imposed over Crans-Montana, police said in a statement, adding that the cause of the blast remained unclear.
More than 100 people were in the bar at the time of the explosion, the police said.