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The fire has killed about 40 people Walk through a busy bar In a popular Swiss ski resort Lunar New Year’s eve The celebrations have been described as one of the country’s “worst tragedies”.
Authorities said local hospitals in the Crans-Montana Alpine resort were stretched to capacity and about 100 people were injured, some seriously.
The fire broke out in the early morning of New Year’s Day, Footage shows crowds of people Escape from Le Constellation bar, which is engulfed in flames.
Witnesses described the scene as revelers gathered at the venue to welcome the New Year. The cause of the fire was unclear, but authorities have ruled out an attack and declined to speculate on whether fireworks or lit candles were involved.
Here’s everything we know about the incident:
How many people died?
About 40 people died and about 100 were injured, most of them seriously.
Valais canton police chief Frederic Giesler told a news conference on Thursday that authorities expected several foreigners to be among the dead.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday that 16 Italians were reported missing and about a dozen other Italian nationals were being treated in hospital.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin also confirmed that many of the victims were young people, and the hospital director confirmed that some of the patients being treated were as young as 16 years old.
Palmeline called the fire “one of the worst tragedies our country has ever experienced” and called the fatal incident “unprecedented” and “shocking.”
Gisler said efforts were underway to identify the victims and notify their families, but “this will take time and it is too early to give a more accurate number at this time.” He added that the community was “shocked” by the incident.
Where did the fire occur?
The explosion occurred at around 1.30am on Thursday at Le Constellation bar in the luxury ski resort of Crans-Montana in Valais canton in southwestern Switzerland, which is popular with tourists.
The community is located in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 25 miles north of the Matterhorn.
Crans-Montana has high-altitude ski slopes about 3,000 meters above sea level. It is one of the winter sports centers in the Valais region of Switzerland, attracting winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world.
The resort is one of the top competition venues on the Alpine Skiing World Cup circuit and will host the next World Championships for two weeks in February 2027.
The area is completely sealed off and a no-fly zone has been established over Crans-Montana.
What was the cause of the fire?
The exact cause of the fire is unclear, but officials have ruled out an attack.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they saw a male bartender inside lifting a female bartender over his shoulders while she held a lit candle. They told broadcasters that flames spread and wooden ceilings collapsed.
Video footage appeared to show the bar’s ceiling quickly catching fire, but Justice Minister Beatrice Piloud declined to confirm the reports at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
One of the women described a swollen crowd as people frantically tried to escape the basement nightclub up a flight of narrow stairs and through a narrow door.
The fire is said to have caused the explosion, which officials described as an “embarrassment”.
This is a firefighting term that describes how a fire triggers the release of flammable gases and then burns violently.
This causes what English firefighters call a flashover or flashback, where all combustible materials in an enclosed space ignite simultaneously, often engulfing the entire room.
An eyewitness told local media BFMTV that people smashed windows to escape the blaze, some of them seriously injured, and panicked parents drove to the scene to see if their children were trapped inside.
The young man said he saw about 20 people scrambling to escape the smoke and flames and what he saw across the street was like something from a horror movie.
What is the emergency services response?
About 42 ambulances, 13 helicopters and three “disaster relief trucks” rushed to the scene, and witnesses said the injured were being treated at a nearby bar and a makeshift triage center set up at a UBS branch.
Emergency services arrived at the scene within two minutes and by 5am all injured had been treated.
Regional councilor Mathias Rïnard said regional hospitals’ intensive care units and operating theaters were quickly reaching capacity.
In a heavily visited ski resort, authorities called on people in the area to exercise caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require already overwhelmed medical resources.
“Hospitals across the country are dealing with an influx of injured people,” said Stephane Ganzer, councilor for the city of Atte in canton Valais.
“To help their efforts, please avoid all hazardous activities today. Thank you on their behalf.”