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One World with Zain Asher

Ukraine Allies in "Coalition of the Willing" to Meet This Month; Negotiations Push Forward on Effort to End War in Ukraine; Trump's Sweeping New U.S. Travel Ban Now in Effect; Authorities Hold Briefing on Deadly Fire at Swiss Ski Resort; Police Commander Met with Victims' Families. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired January 01, 2026 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Live from London, I'm Fred Pleitgen, and this is "One World". Go straight to our top story. And what

started off as a celebration in the Swiss Alps has ended in tragedy, a fire at the Crans-Montana ski resort has claimed around 40 lives, that's

according to Italy's Foreign Ministry, citing Swiss police.

We'll learn more in a few minutes as we stand by for police press conference that's set to begin very soon. We'll obviously bring that to you

once it starts. But back to the facts. Witnesses say the fire was started by sparklers in champagne bottles that were carried too close to the

ceiling, and they add once that ceiling caught fire, the entire club went up in flames.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMUEL RAPP, WITNESS: There were people screaming and then people lying on the ground, probably dead. They had jackets over their faces. Well, that's

what I saw. Nothing more. Then I received videos where people were trying to get out, but they were trampling over each other, so it was hard to get

out through the exit. And there were people shouting, saying, help me. Please help us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now police spokesperson says there were about 100 people in the club at the time. Journalist Martin Meul was one of the first on the scene,

and he described what he learned when he spoke to me earlier.

MARTIN MEUL, REPORTER OF BLICK: Yeah, you can see the scene behind me. It's about 200 meters direct in my bag, but everything is covered with plastic,

so you can't take images or so everything is closed. All the grocery shop next to the scene is closed, and then you cannot pass. You have even

problems to pass when you have an apartment in the -- area.

So, police are very strict that nobody gets closer to the bar where the fire was -- the town is going on. I have to say, we have a lot of tourists

here because of the holidays, and so we have people passing by going to, at the end in the morning, they went to the slopes and enjoying the time.

So, we have two worlds in one place, one very tragic world where we had the fire, and another one, the touristic world, which where life is going on.

PLEITGEN: Yeah. And you said it's a very popular tourist resort, obviously, right now, in the winter season and especially on New Year's Eve, a lot of

tourists will have been there. Is that who they fear? Most of the victims are that most of the people there who were killed, who were injured, are

potentially tourists from Europe and other places?

MEUL: Yeah, that seems to be possible, but they affect, they don't know, because it can -- they can be locals too, but it's likely that they are

also tourist kill been, we know that two of them were French people, but other identities were not given or to this moment.

PLEITGEN: And our own Nada Bashir joins me now for a closer look at how things were unfolding and are unfolding. Nada, first of all, you've been

monitoring this basically since it happened. Bring us up to speed on what we know at this point.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, officials and authorities have been very clear that the investigations are still in the early stages. They are

waiting for the venue to be more secure before they can carry a full-scale forensic investigation. But at this stage, what we know, according to

officials, is that this fire, this blaze, broke out at around 01:30 in the morning.

So, in the midst of New Year's celebrations, this would have been a very crowded party atmosphere, as we've been hearing from witnesses. Officials

say about 100 people at least were inside, and at this stage, as you mentioned, we know that dozens have been presumed dead, at least 100

already said to be injured, and this has triggered a huge response from emergency services.

And as we heard there in that report, this is a holiday period, we would have been expecting to see a lot of tourists, perhaps staying in this

resort to celebrate Christmas, to celebrate New Year's. And clearly this has ended in tragedy. The fire is said to have spread throughout this bar

where many would have been celebrating.

We've heard from two witnesses who have spoken to CNN's Affiliate BFMTV, who have said they saw waitresses carrying champagne bottles with sparklers

in them, and that these were carried quite close to the ceiling. So, they believe that the ceiling may have caught fire as a result of their spark

list spreading very quickly before some witnesses say they heard an explosion.

But important to underscore that officials are not giving a firm response just yet on what actually caused the fire.

PLEITGEN: And this town Crans-Montana, obviously, by the looks of it, a very small village and yet a very exclusive tourist location.

[11:05:00]

What do we know about, potentially, the nationalities of those who were affected? Because we are hearing some foreign embassies also coming with

some information.

BASHIR: We are and this is a very high-end exclusive resort. This is somewhere where many would have been traveling to celebrate New Years at

the Le Constellation lounge bar, which is where the blaze actually broke out at this stage, we don't know the details of the nationalities in terms

of the casualties, the victims.

Just yet, we have been hearing from some consulates, including the U.S. consulate, who have not only expressed their condolences, but said they are

tracking the situation. They have called on U.S. citizens in the country, for example, to check on their loved ones and family members, friends who

may have been in the area, but we haven't had an official list just yet confirming the nationalities and details of the casualties.

And of course, this is still very much an ongoing disaster situation. We're talking about a huge effort by the emergency services to try to not only

tackle the plays, but also treat those victims and those injured. We know that many were taken to hospitals by helicopter, by air ambulance.

We know that some 40 ambulances are actually deployed to the scene, including 150 medical personnel. So, this is a huge emergency response

effort, and in fact, the State Council has now declared a state of emergency.

PLEITGEN: Which means that the response is now basically something that engulfs all of Switzerland, because it's a small country, but it does have

significant resources, especially as far as helicopters are concerned, ambulances are concerned, who are also quite well versed with dealing with

disasters and situations in mountainous areas.

BASHIR: Yeah, absolutely. And that is essentially the messaging that we've been hearing from officials from the State Council with regards to why the

decision was taken to declare a state of emergency. They have said in their statement that this legal framework would allow them to coordinate various

large-scale measures, and there was that to spread out over time.

So, it's potentially expected that this could be a longer-term response in terms of the investigation itself. They have said the situation is likely

to stay on for some time, but unclear what that time frame will look like. And of course, we are still waiting for a further press conference from

officials to potentially give us some more details as to how that investigation is going on, but it isn't expected that it could take some

time.

PLEITGEN: Yeah, and we are standing by for that, you're standing by for that, and you'll bring us the latest once that press conference begins.

Thank you very much. And we'll obviously bring you that press conference once it starts. So, stay tuned here to learn the latest details once we get

them.

Moving on now to Ukraine, I want all of us to be on the same page right now. That's a declaration from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who

says a peace agreement for his country is about 90 percent ready. In his New Year's Eve address, Mr. Zelenskyy says the remaining 10 percent will,

quote, determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and the fate of Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: Ukraine does not need a Minsk style, meticulously drafted trap signatures under weak agreements only fuel

war. My signature will be under a strong agreement, and that is exactly what every meeting, every call, every decision, is about right now to

secure a strong peace for everyone, not for a day, not for a week, not for two months, peace for years.

Only then will it truly be a success for Ukraine, for America, for Europe, and in truth, for every nation that wants to live not to fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his own New Year's address, telling his troops the country believes in them and in

Russia's victory in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: After all, we are together, the people of Russia work success and achievements of each of us create new chapters

in its 1000-year history, and the strength of our unity determines the sovereignty and security of the Fatherland, its development, its future.

We are united in our sincere, selfless and devoted love for Russia. I congratulate all our soldiers and commanders on the coming New Year. We

believe in you and our victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: And meanwhile, diplomacy continues as well. A group of Ukraine's allies known as the "Coalition of the Willing" is set to meet next week.

Earlier, I spoke to Global Affairs Analyst Michael Bociurkiw, who is also a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and I started by asking about

security guarantees for Ukraine.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Listen, there is quite a bit of daylight between what Mr. Zelenskyy is saying and what Mr. Putin is saying

and between what Mr. Putin is telling Mr. Trump and vice versa. Mr. Zelenskyy, I think, is preparing his people for that very, very difficult

last mile where those security guarantees have to be absolutely iron clad.

And that whoever is the guarantor will probably have to be the United States is also a commitment to put troops on the ground, should the

agreement falter.

[11:10:00]

And there are problems with that, because, of course, I just returned for the United States. I didn't sense any appetite there for more foreign

involvement of U.S. troops. Secondly, Ukrainians are deservedly, I would use the word paranoid about the word security guarantees, because we all

know what happened a couple of decades ago with the Budapest Memorandum.

So again, needs to be iron clad, and also any talk whatsoever, Fred, of territorial concessions does not go over well in Ukraine after so much

blood has been spilled.

PLEITGEN: Yeah, that's actually my next question, because one of the things that we know that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, has said,

is that any peace agreement will have to go through a referendum in Ukraine. What's the likelihood of a referendum like that passing or being

endorsed by the people of Ukraine, if it involves territorial concessions, but if the security guarantees maybe aren't where people want?

You said that there is a sort of paranoia about these security guarantees and that they have to be rock solid, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy said they have

to be long term.

BOCIURKIW: Yeah, well, let me be very blunt. I think Mr. Zelenskyy is living in a fantasy land, thinking he can have a referendum 60 to 90 days

after an agreement falls into place. We have millions of Ukrainians displaced right now, all over the world, Ukrainian diplomatic posts are in

no condition whatsoever.

They're under resourced to handle that type of process. Secondly, yeah. I mean, before I left Ukraine, you know, I visited that huge memorial on

Kyiv, I think you've been there too. The memorial in Odessa, they are overflowing right now. And this is the reason why Ukrainians, what will

tell anybody you talk to them about is that they're not going to give up territory, because, why was all the blood spilt?

PLEITGEN: Israel has agreed to open the Rafah border crossing in the coming days, after facing pressure from the United States. Opening the crossing

between Gaza and Egypt would potentially allow Palestinians to enter and leave the enclave for the first time in 10 months.

Earlier this week, Israel announced it would suspend operations of several aid groups in the enclave starting today. The government says they're

failing to comply with new requirements, which include providing personal details of staff members. The move came as 10 countries, including the UK,

France and Japan, warned of, quote, renewed deterioration in Gaza as it endures a harsh winter.

The countries said in a statement that conditions there remain catastrophic, despite the ceasefire. And a sweeping new U.S. travel ban,

largely targeting African countries, takes effect today, starting today citizens from these countries, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South, Sudan,

Sierra Leone, Syria and Laos join 12 other nations who are already barred from entering the United States.

19 countries now face a total ban, and 20 nations face partial bans. The White House defends the move, saying it will, quote, protect the U.S.

National Security and public safety threats. Meanwhile, Mali and Burkina Faso have joined a list of countries imposing reciprocal travel bans on

American citizens.

Obviously, a lot to break down. Joining us now is CNN Correspondent Larry Madowo, who has been covering the story at length, and it's a pretty

complicated one. There are people who have called this bluntly, an Africa and Muslim ban.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're calling it that for good reason, because you remember, if during President Trump's first term there was a

Muslim ban, which was largely undone after the Biden Administration came over.

PLEITGEN: On the people from Iraq, from Syria, from Iran, there were a bunch of countries --

MADOWO: And that's exactly what we're at now. This travel ban involves a lot of the same Muslim nations, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, the Palestinian

Authority, majority Muslim nations, and many of the African nations banned also have significant Muslim populations.

67 percent of these countries are in Africa. 26 out of the 39 are African nations, which the U.S. says are great risks. Pose great risk the United

States, either because poor vetting procedures, they have terrorism problems, so they can't trust the documents. There's no function in

government.

Some of them have citizenship investment. It schemes so it masks who, where the person originally is from, or some of them, the U.S. is unhappy that

they refuse to accept their migrants when they're deported, and they have high visa overstay rates. So, when they go to the United States, they

overstay their visas, they try to get deported, and that doesn't happen. So that --

PLEITGEN: -- countries essentially won't take them back.

MADOWO: Pretty much.

PLEITGEN: Yeah.

MADOWO: And they've been very aggressive in trying to get these countries to take back their take back their migrants. What's happened is three

African nations have said, we're going to match your energy. So, what kids say, Band for band, Aura for aura. So, Burkina Faso and Mali have said,

we're also going to introduce similar bans on Americans coming here.

[11:15:00]

Niger's State TV said something similar would happen, and Chad was the first to do that.

PLEITGEN: Explain to me the difference between a partial and a full ban.

MADOWO: OK, a partial ban means you're on the warning list if you don't cooperate, if you don't accept your migrants, you could be upgraded to full

ban. So, nobody can come in, no more visas issued. The full ban means that no one is allowed to come in. They're not issuing any more visas, and

there's very small exclusions for athletes or diplomats or people who have values the United States.

But for the most part, nobody can come in, and that's until the government can cooperate with the U.S. State Department.

PLEITGEN: Which I'm sure is must be really difficult also for the business communities in these countries who want to do business with the United

States, which is something the U.S. would want.

MADOWO: Which is something the U.S. has been saying they want to do more business. Even in these African nations, they don't want to do a lot of aid

anymore. It's trade. But this is the year of the World Cup as well. Many of these nations have big football supporting populations who want to go and

watch the games that are all over the U.S.

So maybe they have a better chance going to Canada or Mexico. And also, for families, for instance, have been waiting for asylum cases to go through.

Those have all come to stop. If you're hoping to go to school, or maybe you're out of the country and you're already currently enrolled in school,

you can't go back. So, it's very serious for a lot of people who have a life or are hoping for a life --

PLEITGEN: Yeah, very serious and so much uncertainty also. Larry Madowo, thank you very much for keeping an eye on that for us. We're going to take

a short break. We're expecting a news conference from officials in Switzerland on the deadly fire. We'll bring that to you live when it

happens, stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PLEITGEN: All right back with you. And I want to take you live right now to Lens in Switzerland, where authorities are holding a briefing on the deadly

fire at a ski resort in Crans-Montana. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- of the counter of -- Mr. Mathias Reynard the head of the captain of police. The public prosecutor -- and Mr. Stephane Ganzer

and Mr. Nicolas Feraud. The public prosecutor is going to now take the floor and tell you about the procedure to be adopted. Thank you very much.

Madame, you have the --

BEATRICE PILLOUD, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you very much, Colonel. Ladies and gentlemen, we are here as a result of the very serious incident which

happened last night. This press conference will adopt the following procedure. The President of the Confederation will be the first to take the

floor. And after him -- and the President of the Canton.

-- is going to give you some details about the actual incident. And the State Council is going to talk to you about the particular circumstances

with regard to the health. And after that, members of the press will be allowed to ask questions. President of the Confederation, you have the

floor, sir.

GUY PARMELIN, SWISS PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. The security services of the capital --

[11:20:00]

-- It's one of the worst tragedies that our country has been through. The Federal Council was shocked by the news today, and the members of that

council has asked me to convey -- what happened in this particular establishment was a real disaster. Hundreds of people were wounded or

injured, people whose faith has been such short tragically.

And first of all, I strike to address to compare my sincere condolences to everybody who has suffered and the families of those who have died. All the

authorities concerned have been involved on taking charge of the victims, as well as people from abroad, have all taken part.

The Confederation should like to applaud solidarity with the emergency services responded to this incident. On behalf of the -- the federal

foreign service is also available and has also made itself available to the local authorities to deal with the consequences of this tragedy.

And we are absolutely committed to completing all the actions necessary. And in that context, I'd like to thank all those countries who contacted

us, who offered their special services, specialist France, Germany, Italy, whose presidents all made statements.

And I should like to signal here that we have received international solidarity from throughout Europe. I don't want to go into the details of

what I'd like to concentrate on the victims, the casualties, the whole country shares in the grief of -- this tragedy was happened in -- place

which was dedicated to fun and good cheer.

And it is ironic in this respect that it should happen there, and the message being conveyed from it was one of peace and stability. I should

just like to say whole country is in warning for this event. Convey to everybody -- And -- you are not alone. All the emergency services, all the

health services, are there to accompany you, to see you through this.

The emergency services, the fire services and the police were all involved. And many of them were confronted by an indescribable scene of violence and

horror and there but -- deserves all our recognition. We have set up an inquiry to investigate the exact circumstances of this drama.

We owe that to the victims, to their families and to all the citizens of the country.

[11:25:00]

This Thursday it must be a day of pride of prayer and dignity and the conviction that we have to face this with resilience. I also like to

address the young people involved who were there to with all their hopes and dreams, their deaths must be honored properly. They, after all, were

part of our -- future.

The Confederation is going to put everything, all their efforts in this kind of thing has never happened again. This is a symbolic message which we

take from the disaster. These kinds of events must never strangle the values that we embody on the contrary. Today, Switzerland is plunged into

sorrow, but Switzerland is also unified in its heart and is committed to determining what happened.

And just like to say, once again, listen silly that we are with you. Thank you.

MATHIAS REYNARD, PRESIDENT OF STATE COUNCIL: Thank you very much -- Confederation. Although this evening should have been one of celebration,

joy, it was marked by a disaster which took the lives of dozens of people. As head of the government of ballet, I should like to address, so prayers

to everybody involved, and particularly to the families of those who have suffered to be injured and to the nearest and dearest.

We have had meetings with some of the families just now as well as with the public prosecutor. A number of them are still waiting for further news. An

unbearable human moment. We are aware, unfortunately, of the fact that it will be some time yet before we can identify all the bodies.

We should like to reaffirm our full recognition to all the rescue teams and the health professionals involved. We should also like to express our

gratitude to all those who mobilized last night, today, tomorrow, and I'm sure the day after. We cannot imagine a greater public response from all

those who offered their help.

-- firefighters to the police and also the health professionals of the hospitals of the campus of -- who did their absolute utmost. Together with

the solidarity of those who knew what was afoot. Their dedication was exemplary, and that is something which is being copied and replicated in

other Cantons of Switzerland who are dealing with those who are very seriously injured.

[11:30:00]

We have obviously evacuated autism to different parts of different hospitals in Switzerland -- solidarity which we've received was from all

the other we should like to thank everybody for that, and that is a universal feeling on the heart on behalf of the council. It is difficult to

find words to express our sorrow to the families concerned.

But you must know that all efforts have been mobilized. We are doing our utmost to remedy the situation. There has been a maximum effort on the part

of all emergency services. We have seen huge solidarity in humanity on the part of everybody who has witnessed this horrible drama.

NICOLAS FERAUD, PRESIDENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CRANS-MONTANA: The -- gentleman as a gentleman -- this is inaudible. We have seen terrible

distress and anxiety. Our thoughts go to the families of the victims, particularly. Our thoughts also go to those who were eye witnesses of this

tragedy, and particularly to the rescue workers all of the teams involved.

We'd like to express our solidarity to everybody who was involved. Thank you.

FREDERIC GISLER, COMMANDER OF THE VALAIS CANTONAL POLICE: Ladies and gentlemen, I said this morning, and I say it very often, the drama which we

saw last night is unprecedented in the families of those who died. We have just had a meeting with those family members a couple of hours ago, and we

ensured them of our support.

This meeting was quite devastating. We'd like to express all our sympathy, once again, to all the families all the victims in these particularly

dramatic times. We'd like to go back to the chronology of what happened. It was about 130 when the fire broke out, and very soon after the first

responders were on the spot.

And the first police patrols were sent in immediately, and the Crans- Montana authorities and firefighters from the entire region were immediately mobilized. First mission was to give help to the victims and to

make sure that they were distributed dispatched to the nearest hospitals, particularly those which was specialized.

The fire service cordoned off the whole area, and in parallel, a number of members -- a number of measures were taken in order to support families.

[11:35:00]

Calls were made to family members, nearest and dearest, and thanks to this huge mobilization. All the forces involved were activated by 5 o'clock in

the morning. The majority of the victims were badly burnt. At the priority today and in the upcoming days is to identify the dead and to support their

families.

And we will be contacting the families of victims who were not Swiss belong to different nationalities. An inquiry has been set up by the captain of

Valos, of Valais, rather headed by the public prosecutor. And I'd just like to thank once again, all the emergency services for their total commitment

in this tragedy. Thank you very much.

PILLOUD: Given the totally dramatic situation we're in, strong, we have not, unfortunately been able -- situation where we can answer all the

questions being provided by family members. We have set up an inquiry so as to pursue the investigation.

We appeal for support and solidarity. There were many circumstances to weigh up, many leads, especially given the fact that this was a flashback

fire that ripped through the establishment. There are lots of hypotheses about how it happened. We have to investigate those.

And much of it is going to be put into determining the exact causes of the -- And of course, our first priority now is to identify the bodies and to

return them to their families.

STEPHANE GANZER, STATE COUNCILOR AND HEAD OF DEPARTMENT FOR SECURITY, INSTITUTIONS AND SPORT: We devastated by this event, we'd like to express

all our compassion, particularly that to the people who are in intensive care units.

-- state has already been said, has activated all the legal requirements which has allowed us to mobilize as quickly as possible all the units

involved in emergency care and response which will, which hasn't, made it possible for us to act as speedily as possible.

[11:40:00]

And this will be an effort which will continue in the upcoming days, if not upcoming weeks as well. I will be doubtless other measures needed to be

taken, particularly with regard to neighboring countries. I should just like to upload here the efficiency of the emergency services and first

responders was confronted by extreme situations.

And I'd just like to reassure you that we gave our full solidarity and support to everyone involved. Solidarity was quite extraordinary. And here

I should like to thank, particularly all the firefighters of our region, others that helped, and obviously those people involved also need support

in this situation, which is unprecedented.

Here, I'd like to salute the quality of the service given by the local police force too. I should just like to say that I'm very proud of the

response that my firefighting service gave. And I think that this kind of - - and humanity which has been expressed will allow us once again to resist to be resilient in the face of these kinds of tragedies.

-- like to thank the Swiss canton of welling. And the measures which have been proposed by the Swiss government or parliament rather. And we will

resolve all these questions, I'm sure in the future.

REYNARD: I'd like to give you a couple of pieces of information subsequent to the previous present. So, 115 people were involved in the rescue

services. 15 helicopters under three trucks. 35 people went to various hospitals by their own means. And 40 people were taken over by the Valais

authorities.

And people who were in a critical situation were evacuated to ICU. Many of them to the hospital in Sion. And as we said before, we have evacuated many

other victims to other cantons, other hospitals -- and other countries have committed themselves also to high rescue services.

And the hospitals in Valais at the moment, keeping their heads above water. Although it is under tremendous pressure at the moment, and I'd like to

reiterate the message which I conveyed this morning.

[11:45:00]

These do not overburden the emergency services unnecessarily. I'd like to appeal to the population of Valais to take on board that message. Thank

you.

PILLOUD: To conclude, I'd just like to recall or remind you of the hotline, which is open to families. But also, those who are injured, and we ask you

to take advantage of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you very much for that first part of explanation. Now we come to the second part, where members of the press can

ask questions. I'd like you to profess any question with by saying which press service you represent. We have a microphone roving throughout the

whole -- agency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it a question of a sparkler on a champagne bottle or a squid being let off drinking the --

PILLOUD: Thank you -- I'd just like to say that we are not in a position a couple of hours after the event of saying exactly what happened. With

regard to your second question about --where I can actually confirm that either I've seen the staircase, the fire escape from the underground bar,

it was extremely narrow. We have to see whether all the fire provisions were observed or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- two questions -- inaudible --

GISLER: Well, as I said before, the Crans-Montana therapist cannot exclude the fact that people from outside were involved, but we are investigating

the precise identity of everybody involved. Allow us to continue our work, and we will give you full answers in due time.

[11:50:00]

PILLOUD: With regard to the second part of your question, on the question of whether or not the fire exits were in order, we will be answering that

obviously at the end of the investigation, it will receive our attention.

PARMELIN: -- efficient way possible, including, of course, medical. You talked about the neighboring countries involved.

Would you talk about -- Air with the entire environment. Have been in contact with the Foreign Ministry and other heads of foreign countries.

REYNARD: -- specialized in -- the best possible -- country. Obviously, we're very grateful to other countries for their office of health. And we

will be evacuating some people abroad in the next couple of hours.

GANZER: -- professional essentially, what we're talking about is very young people involved in all this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- in German -- them shall be contacted in German.

PARMELIN: -- in German -- he was essentially to make sure that all the specialists were involved in the morning --

[11:55:00]

Particularly -- hospital in Italy --

PILLOUD: Has anyone been arrested? There are no suspects involved -- We have alerted certain people with a view to using the real reasons and

circumstances of the tragedies.

GANZER: -- We have managed to remove and discuss any kind of possibility of an attack -- and there wasn't a detonation which take the fire. It was

rather an explosion which happened as a result of the fire.

PILLOUD: In order -- as I have already said, it's only a couple of hours since the event, and it is too soon yet to answer any of those questions,

I'm afraid.

PILLOUD: -- take before all the facts are properly elucidated -- guess is - - but we are working flat out in order to do it as quickly as possible. I can't give you a time frame, I'm afraid.

[12:00:00]

END