Swiss police say several people have died in fire at bar in ski resort

ZURICH (AFP) - Several people were killed and others injured when an explosion ripped through a bar in Switzerland’s luxury Alpine ski resort town of Crans Montana, police said on Thursday.

“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.”

He said the explosion took place at around 1:30am (local time) 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 intervention is still ongoing,” he said.

The area has been completely closed off, and a no-fly zone has been imposed over Crans-Montana, police said, adding that the cause of the fire remained unclear.

More than 100 people were in the bar at the time of the explosion, Swiss media outlet Blick reported, citing police.