About 40 dead and 115 injured in fire at Swiss Alpine bar during New Year’s celebration
A deadly fire tore through a packed New Year’s celebration at a bar in the Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday, killing about 40 people and injuring at least 115 others, many of them critically. Authorities said the exact death toll was still being confirmed as rescue and recovery efforts continued. The popular Le Constellation bar, crowded with revelers ringing in the new year, was quickly transformed from a festive gathering place into the scene of one of Switzerland’s worst peacetime tragedies in recent memory. Officials announced five days of national mourning as investigators worked to identify victims and notify families. Valais Canton police said the community was devastated and warned that it would take several days to fully account for those who had been inside the venue, noting that the number of people present at the time of the fire remains unknown. Officials stressed that there was no indication of an attack and said the cause of the blaze has yet to be determined, as experts have not been able to safely enter the wreckage. No arrests have been made, and authorities said the investigation is focused solely on establishing how the fire started and why it spread so quickly.
Survivors and witnesses described scenes of panic and chaos as smoke filled the bar and flames spread rapidly, reportedly collapsing parts of the wooden ceiling. Some said the fire may have ignited during a celebratory moment involving sparklers or an open flame, though officials cautioned that such accounts remain unverified. A 16-year-old survivor from Paris said he felt himself suffocating inside the bar before managing to escape through a broken window, losing his belongings but saving his life, while friends around him were killed or went missing. Others described a desperate crush of people trying to flee up a narrow staircase from a basement nightclub, with some smashing windows to escape as flames and smoke closed in. Hospitals in the region were quickly overwhelmed, with intensive care units reaching capacity as emergency teams treated dozens of severely burned and smoke-injured victims. Among those affected were numerous foreign nationals, including Italians, prompting cross-border medical transfers and diplomatic involvement. As families searched for missing loved ones and officials urged caution in the busy ski region to avoid further strain on medical services, national leaders called for unity, prayer, and dignity, acknowledging the immense trauma faced by survivors, first responders, and a resort town accustomed to celebration that instead awoke to profound loss.
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