The three Dutch hospital burns units at Beverwijk, Groningen and Rotterdam have started preparations to accommodate six of the victims of the fire at the Crans-Montana ski resort in Switzerland.

The offer has not yet been accepted, Eelke Bosma of the Groningen burns unit told broadcaster NOS. “We have not yet been told if our help is necessary, but with so many victims, it seems logical that capacity will be at breaking point. That is why we have made an inventory of what the Dutch burns unit can do without endangering national emergency care,” he said.

Beds at burns units in neighbouring Italy and France have also been made available.

The fire at the Le Constellation bar and nightclub broke out around 1.30 am. Some 40 people were killed in the blaze, and 115 suffered burns, 13 of whom are in a critical state in hospital, with over 60% of their bodies burnt.

“The bar was a place where young people hung out,” Dutch national Stefan, who lives in Crans-Montana, told the broadcaster. He confirmed that there was a single staircase from the cellar leading to the exit on the ground floor.

Images published by French broadcaster BFMTV show that the fire was possibly caused by sparklers in champagne bottles. In one of the photos, the ceiling can be seen to catch fire, which then spreads at lightning speed.

Identification of the victims is ongoing. It is not thought any Dutch nationals are among them.

The events at the bar coincided with the 25-year commemoration of a similar incident in the Netherlands in 2001, when bar ’t Hemeltje in Volendam went up in flames on New Year’s Eve, killing 14 youngsters and injuring 180.

That fire was also started by sparklers, which ignited the tinder-dry fir tree branches attached to the café ceiling.