Blaze at Swiss ski resort kills around 40, injures 115

What should have been a night of music, laughter and champagne in the Alps curdled into catastrophe as the new year dawned over Switzerland.

A ferocious blaze tore through Le Constellation, a popular bar in the heart of the luxury ski resort of Crans-Montana, killing around 40 people and injuring at least 115 others, Swiss authorities said on Thursday.

Partygoers had gathered to welcome 2026 when, at about 1:30am, flames erupted inside the crowded venue, turning celebration into chaos within minutes.

More than 100 people were inside the bar when the fire broke out, according to police and local media reports. Witnesses spoke of panic and confusion as smoke and heat engulfed the premises. “There has been an explosion of unknown origin,” said Gaetan Lathion, a police spokesperson in the canton of Valais, adding that the circumstances were still being examined.

Later in the day, officials described the incident as an embrasement généralisé — a phenomenon in which a fire releases combustible gases that ignite violently, similar to what firefighters call a flashover or backdraft. How the blaze was sparked and how it spread so rapidly remain unclear.

The human toll has overwhelmed emergency services across the region. Hospitals in French-speaking Switzerland were inundated with burn victims, many of them in critical condition. Valais hospital’s intensive care unit quickly reached capacity, forcing the transfer of patients to facilities elsewhere in the country.

University Hospital Zurich confirmed it was treating 12 burn victims, while Lausanne University Hospital said its burns and intensive care units were caring for 22 patients, the youngest just 16 years old.

Across the border, Italy opened the doors of its major burns unit at Milan’s Niguarda hospital to receive the injured. Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland warned that identifying some of the dead could take weeks because of the severity of the burns.

Emergency responders mounted a massive rescue operation, dispatching 10 helicopters, 40 ambulances and around 150 personnel to the scene. The area around the bar was sealed off, and authorities imposed a no-fly zone over Crans-Montana as investigators began their work.

While the cause of the fire remains under investigation, officials have stressed there is no indication of arson or sabotage. “We are at the very beginning of our investigation,” Lathion said, noting that the internationally renowned resort was crowded with tourists at the time. Beatrice Pilloud, the prosecutor-general of Valais, was unequivocal: “At this stage, we are favouring a fire, and at no time is there any question of an attack.”

A reception centre and helpline have been established for families desperately seeking information about loved ones, as authorities cautioned that returning bodies to relatives would take several days.

The tragedy has cast a pall far beyond the snow-covered slopes. “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,” Swiss president Guy Parmelin wrote in a message on X.

The fire at Le Constellation is feared to be the deadliest such incident in modern Swiss history — a rare calamity in a country where devastating fires and explosions are uncommon. As forensic specialists comb through the charred remains of the bar, Switzerland mourns a new year marked not by hope, but by profound loss.