‘One of Switzerland’s worst tragedies’: Five days of mourning after deadly Crans-Montana fire

Friday, 2 January 2026

Switzerland will hold five days of mourning after a devastating fire tore through a crowded bar in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana during a New Year’s celebration.

The blaze killed 40 people and left another 115 injured, many seriously.

President Guy Parmelin called the blaze “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced'.

He called it a 'drama of an unknown scale“, saying the country owed it to the victims to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.

The fire broke out shortly after 1.30am on New Year’s Day at Le Constellation bar.

Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that the blaze started when sparklers or flares were placed in champagne bottles, quickly igniting the wooden ceiling.

Ulysse Brozzo, 16, a local ski instructor, told The Guardian his friends had been inside the bar at the time.

“It’s a total tragedy. There were hundreds of people inside,” he said.

Some of his friends were safe and others were still unaccounted for, the ski instructor said.

Emergency services transported the injured to hospitals in Sion, Lausanne, Geneva, and Zurich.

Some survivors suffered serious burns and lung injuries.

Lausanne University Hospital said it was treating 22 patients aged 16 to 26, with eight resuscitated on arrival.

Hospital’s general manager Claire Charmet said recovery would be “a long and intensive process, lasting weeks, perhaps months.”

Authorities are now working to identify the victims, including taking DNA samples from families.

Many of those affected were visiting from neighbouring countries.

Italy’s foreign ministry said 16 of its nationals were missing and 12 were injured.

Opened in 2015, Le Constellation could hold up to 300 people inside and 40 on a heated terrace.

The bar was a popular spot for young locals and tourists, with some patrons as young as 14 reportedly frequenting the venue.

Swiss officials described the blaze as an embrasement généralisé, a French firefighting term for when a fire releases combustible gases that ignite violently, similar to what English-speaking firefighters call a flashover or backdraft.