‘My son booked a desk at Swiss bar – I do not know if he is in hospital or morgue’

Laetitia Brodard has not seen teenage son Arthur, 16 since he set off to celebrate at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve with nine of his friends

A distraught mum is today desperately searching for her teenage son and nine of his school mates who remain unaccounted for following the New Year fire tragedy in Switzerland.

Laetitia Brodard revealed she hasn’t seen her son, Arthur Brodard, 16, since he left to join the festivities at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana on Wednesday night.

It’s feared that 47 people have lost their lives and hundreds more have been injured after sparklers inside champagne bottles ignited the venue’s basement ceiling.

On Friday, Swiss native Ms Brodard told BFT TV news channel: “I’ve been looking for Arthur for more than 30 hours, but there’s no news. It’s an unbearable wait.

“I won’t stop searching, I won’t give up, to know if my son is alive or if he’s gone to the other side.”

Ms Brodard explained that Arthur and 10 school friends had reserved a table at Le Constellation to ring in 2026, but only one has been found so far.

She said: “He was looking forward to celebrating New Year’s Eve with his school friends at the resort and in this bar.

“They had made plans and reserved a table in advance. Of the 11 people at that table only one has been found, and all the others are missing.

“My son is alone in a hospital if he’s alive. Even if he’s in a morgue, because by now you have to be able to think clearly after more than 30 hours, I don’t know which morgue, I can’t be by his side.”

Ms Brodard added: “Today, if he’s in the hospital, I don’t know which hospital. If he’s in a morgue, I don’t know which morgue, which country, which canton.

“He could be in Bern, Zurich, Milan, Stuttgart, Lausanne.

“He could be anywhere. I’ve been in Crans-Montana for 30 hours without any news of my child.

“We’re parents, we’re doing everything we can to get answers.”

Speaking about the Swiss authorities, Ms Brodard said: “There are no words, they can’t answer our questions because they don’t know anything. The burn victims have burns covering between 45 and 60% of their bodies, mostly grade three.

Ms Brodard revealed she had personally filed a missing person report for her son in an attempt to gather videos and photos from the evening to catch a glimpse of him and ‘relive the evening” minute by minute. ‘.

She stated: “At 1.28am, my son made a video for a group with his friends. At 1.30am, the first phone rang to report the fire.”

In response to criticism that such young teenagers should have been out celebrating alone, Ms Brodard said: “We’re not irresponsible parents for letting our children, aged 16 and up, go out to celebrate the New Year.

“We’re in a ski resort. Here, people of all ages celebrate the New Year. All the parents knew where their children were.”

Ms Brodard mentioned she had been trying a dedicated victims’ telephone line set up by the Swiss authorities, but had trouble getting information.

She added: “The hotline still has no more information today.”

Despite efforts to extinguish the fire, the inferno in Le Constallation consumed the packed basement, ascended a set of narrow wooden stairs, and triggered explosions so loud that locals feared a terrorist attack.

Survivors have since recounted how individuals were overcome by smoke inhalation and burned.

The burns sustained by the predominantly young crowd – many in their teens and early 20s – were so severe that Swiss officials stated it could take days before all victims are identified and named.

The first deceased victim to be named was 17 year old Emanuele Galeppini, an Italian teenage golfer.

Swiss president Guy Parmelin described the blaze as ‘one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced’, adding that it “cut short many young lives.”