Tahirys Dos Santos, a 19-year-old youth team player at French club FC Metz, has made his first public appearance since suffering burns to 30 per cent of his body in a deadly nightclub fire in Switzerland. He appeared alongside his girlfriend, Coline, who he ran back into the blaze to save.
The fire broke out at the Le Constellation nightclub in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana, killing at least 41 people. A total of 115 people were injured, with 83 initially treated for severe burns.
Coline was saved, and the couple stepped out together for the first time since the incident at the UNFP Awards in Paris. Wearing matching black outfits, they showed off scars including burns on their hands and down their arms as the audience applauded their entrance to the stage. The couple presented the award for France's female Player of the Year to Melchie Dumoray.
How the fire started
Witnesses said a waitress waved a sparkler in a champagne bottle while sitting on a colleague's shoulders, igniting the ceiling and setting the wood-panelled basement alight. The blaze spread in seconds, forcing a stampede as more than 100 partygoers, mostly teens and young adults, fought to reach a single, narrow staircase that was the only way out before escaping a ground floor that was also engulfed.
Swiss president Guy Parmelin called it "one of the worst tragedies our country has experienced." Police commander Frederic Gisler confirmed the fire "started in the basement" and that a crush occurred as people tried to flee up the single staircase.
Authorities have not confirmed the exact cause, but witnesses and video footage suggest the sparkler was responsible, and investigations have been opened. Survivors said a table of customers made a large drinks order, prompting a waitress to climb onto a colleague's shoulders and wave the sparkler for them. One witness told local journalists the candle "was very close to the ceiling," which caught fire "in a matter of seconds." Social media pages for the venue, which had a capacity of up to 300 customers, were quickly taken down, though an old video shows sparklers being used liberally there.
Dos Santos describes the escape
From his hospital bed, Dos Santos told Paris Match how he saved Coline. "We went downstairs because Coline had to go to the toilet," he said. "So I went with her and took the opportunity to go to the toilet too." He said: "It all happened very quickly, I didn't really think about it. I went straight to Coline, called her, she was in the toilet and we ran up the stairs." He ended up sitting in the bar upstairs with severe burns before being airlifted to hospital.
A local bus driver said such firecrackers "are banned in a lot of clubs" and added: "They should never be allowed anywhere near crowded places. This is an absolute tragedy."
Injuries and recovery
FC Metz confirmed in a statement that Dos Santos was among those injured. His agent, Christophe Hutteau, gave further detail to BFMTV, saying Dos Santos was transferred to a specialised burns centre in Stuttgart, Germany, and that his parents drove through the night to be by his side.
"I can't tell you he's doing well because he's in terrible pain. He has burns covering 30 per cent of his body," Hutteau said. "The positive point is that his lungs, which were also affected, have improved considerably." Dos Santos returned to action for Metz in April and recently signed his first professional contract with the club.