Crans-Montana Bar Fire: Dozens Dead, 115 Injured In Swiss Ski Resort

Around 40 people were killed and at least 115 injured after a fire tore through a crowded bar during New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, according to Reuters.

The blaze broke out at about 1:30 a.m. (0030 GMT) at Le Constellation, a bar popular with teenagers in the upscale resort in southwestern Switzerland. Police said the cause of the fire was still unclear and that it initially appeared to be an accident rather than an attack, Reuters reported.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin described the incident as “one of the worst tragedies our country has ever known” and said most of those killed were young people.

Authorities cautioned that confirming the exact death toll and identifying victims would take time because many bodies were badly burned. Experts were relying on dental and DNA records to establish identities, according to Reuters.

Video footage verified by Reuters showed flames spreading rapidly through the building, while witnesses described panic as people tried to escape.

“There were people screaming, and then people lying on the ground, probably dead,” said 21-year-old Samuel Rapp, who arrived after the fire. “They had jackets over their faces.”

Frederic Gisler, head of police in the Valais canton, said around 40 people were presumed dead and 115 injured, most of them seriously. He added it was too early to release details on the victims’ identities. Italian authorities said six Italians were still missing and 13 were hospitalised.

Two young French women, identified as Emma and Albane, told France’s BFM TV that they saw the fire start in the basement area after a bottle containing “birthday candles” was held too close to a wooden ceiling.

“The fire spread across the ceiling super quickly,” one of them said. They said they escaped by climbing a narrow staircase to the ground floor, but that the fire reached that level minutes later.

BFM aired footage of a waitress carrying a champagne bottle with a lit “fountain candle” through the bar, though the video did not show the moment the fire began. Local prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said an investigation had been opened into the blaze. Swiss company records showed the bar was owned by a French couple, but she said it was too early to comment on possible safety failures.

“There are still many circumstances to be clarified… The most likely scenario at present is that a widespread fire caused an explosion,” Pilloud told a press conference.

Witnesses said revellers at the bar appeared to come from several countries. Foreign governments were contacting Swiss authorities to determine whether their nationals were among the victims, but identification was proving difficult because of the severity of burns, one European official said, according to Reuters.

“We met the families this afternoon and it’s terrible because to be in front of them with all their fear and apprehension and terrible anxiety and we don’t have all the answers,” said Mathias Reynard, president of the Valais cantonal government. “And we won’t have them straight away because identifying them will take time. It’s a terrible situation on the ground. Unimaginable,” he told Reuters.

The French foreign ministry said eight French citizens were missing and that it could not rule out French fatalities. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to his Swiss counterpart to offer assistance. Three survivors have been transferred to French hospitals, with more transfers under way.

Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, told Sky TG24 that local authorities believed the fire was triggered by someone setting off a firework inside the bar.

Witnesses said injured people were treated in makeshift triage centres in a nearby bar and inside a UBS bank branch. Many suffered after emerging from the heat of the building into freezing night-time temperatures.

“And then it was just ambulances coming back and forth as much as possible,” said Dominic Dubois, who saw bodies being brought out.

Reuters reported that video footage showed long lines of ambulances and helicopters landing to evacuate victims to hospitals and specialist burn units in cities including Lausanne and Zurich. France, Germany and Italy also offered to treat victims.

By Thursday morning, the street outside the bar was sealed off, with forensic tents erected behind white screens. Hundreds gathered later that evening to pay tribute, leaving flowers and lighting candles at a makeshift memorial behind the police cordon.

Crans-Montana is scheduled to host next year’s Alpine World Ski Championships. Swiss officials said such a fire was unprecedented in the country.

“What was meant to be a moment of joy turned, on the first day of the year in Crans-Montana, into mourning that touches the entire country and far beyond,” Parmelin wrote on the social media platform X.

(With inputs from Reuters)