The Albany Gazette - 40 white roses: shaken mourners remember Swiss fire victims

An igloo-like tarpaulin now covers the mound of flowers, teddy bears and lit candles outside Le Constellation bar in the ski resort, to protect the makeshift memorial from the falling snow.

Entering the enclosed space, Mekrabech delicately placed the roses.

"I brought 40. One for each of the victims," he told AFP.

Eight days on from the tragedy at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana, which left 40 dead and 116 injured, Switzerland was marking a national day of mourning for the mostly teenage victims.

Mekrabech, 30, had come from Lyon, in neighbouring France. He was one of many who travelled from afar to mark the occasion in the snow-blanketed ski resort where the tragedy occurred.

"I'm someone who likes to party quite a bit. It made me think of myself. I thought, I could have been at a party without paying attention and been trapped like that," he said.

"I saw myself... I felt I had to make the gesture."

- 'Impossible' -

He and others said they would watch the national memorial ceremony, being live-streamed to giant screens in Crans-Montana from Martigny, down the Rhone valley.

At the Crans-Montana congress centre -- used in the days after the tragedy to accommodate family members desperately seeking information about their missing loved ones -- around 1,400 people gathered to view the ceremony, many quietly sobbing.

When first responders filed in, making their way to around 100 reserved seats, they were met with a standing ovation.

Nicolas Dobler, a 38-year-old volunteer fireman in the northwestern Swiss canton of Jura, said he had come with three colleagues to light candles at the memorial.

"We came specifically today for the national day of mourning and also to really support our fellow firefighters who have truly experienced something horrible," he told AFP.

"It's a situation you would never want to encounter. You can't prepare for this kind of thing, it's impossible. Even with all the training in the world."

Olena, a 61-year-old Ukrainian refugee living in the nearby city of Sion below, said she had also come up the mountainside to take part in the day of mourning.

"I come from Ukraine, where people are also dying. This was terrifying. I wanted to come and honour the victims."

- 'Unbelievable' -

Outside Le Constellation, Federico Gelle, a 17-year-old from Italy's Tuscany region, lit a candle for so many teens his own age who had perished.

He knelt down and seemed to pray among the flowers, before straightening his glasses and re-emerging, his eyes filled with tears.

"This is a terrible thing, but it was avoidable," he told AFP.

"I haven’t lost anyone here... but it is just very sad," he said, his voice breaking.

Gelle said that if he had chosen to spend New Year's Eve in Crans-Montana, as he had in the past, he might very well have been among the victims.

"It’s a thought that sent shivers down my spine... I think I am very lucky."

Matthias Gerhardt, 61, had meanwhile made the trip from Geneva, visiting Crans-Montana for the first time.

"What happened is so serious, it's unbelievable. That's why I came all this way," he told AFP.

"We are in a state of national mourning. It is important that we can express our anger, speak with people," he said.

"It is important to participate."

(O.Garcia--TAG)