Several dead and injured in explosion at Swiss ski resort town Crans-Montana, police say

Several people have been 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.

“There has been an explosion of unknown origin,” Gaetan Lathion, a police spokesperson in Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland, told AFP.

“There are several injured, and several dead.”

He said the explosion took place at about 1:30am (0030 GMT) 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.