Dozens’ killed in Swiss ski resort blaze: What we know
New Year’s Eve explosion in a Swiss ski resort in Crans-Montana kills dozens of people and injures more than 100 others…
A blaze killed “dozens” of people and injured more than 100 others in a bar in a ski resort as partygoers celebrated the arrival of the New Year in the early hours of Thursday morning, Swiss ski police say.
What happened?
A fire broke out at 1:30am (00:30 GMT) at Le Constellation, a bar in the center of the luxury Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana in southwest Switzerland, police said in a statement on Thursday.
Crans-Montana is about 200km south of the Swiss capital, Bern.
“There has been an explosion of unknown origin,” Gaetan Lathion, a police spokesman in Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland, told the AFP news agency.
The bar is a popular tourist venue in the town. At the time of the incident, more than 100 people were present, Swiss ski media outlet Blick reported, quotation police.
What do we know about the victims?
During a news conference on Thursday, Frederic Gisler, the police commander in the Valais Canton in southwestern Switzerland, told reporters that “several dozens” of people were presumed dead in the incident, without specifying the exact number. He added that more than 100 people had been injured.
Later on Thursday morning, the Italian foreign ministry, citing Swiss ski police, said it understood that about 40 people had died.
A medical source told broadcaster RTS that hospitals in French-speaking Switzerland had been overwhelmed with burning victims. Most of those injured were in a serious condition, regional councilor Mathias Renard said. Police said that some victims were from other countries.
Valais hospital’s intensive care unit is full, and patients were being transferred elsewhere, he added.
How have authorities responded?
After being alerted to the blaze, 10 helicopters, 40 ambulances and 150 responders were dispatched to the scene. Police said most of the injured have “significant” injuries with severe burns. Many have been taken to the Valais hospital.
The area surrounding the bar has been completely closed off to the public and a no-fly zone over Crans-Montana has been imposed.
So far, there is no information about what may have caused the fire.
“We’re just at the beginning of our investigation, but this is an internationally renowned Swiss ski resort with lots of tourists,” said Lathion.
Beatrice Pilloud, the prosecutor-general of the Valais canton in southwestern Switzerland, told the news conference, “currently we are favoring a fire and at no time is there question of any attack”.
“Several dozen” people are believed to have died and around 100 were injured when a fire ripped through a crowded bar in the luxury Swiss ski resort town of Crans-Montana, police said on Thursday (January 1, 2026).
It’s too early to determine the cause of the fire on New Year’s, said Frederic Gisler, police commander in the Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland.
A reception center and helpline have been set up for impacted families.
Two French citizens among the injured: French Foreign Ministry
Authorities said it was too early to provide an exact number of victims, but said that since Crans-Montana is popular with tourists around the world, they expected them to include a number of nationalities.
At least two French citizens were among the injured, according to preliminary reports from the French foreign ministry.
Swiss ski media suggested that the fire may have started when fireworks were used during a concert.
Police said the area was “completely closed to the public”, and that “a no-fly zone over Crans-Montana has been imposed”.
“The party was in full swing… music and champagne flowing freely,” a resident who said they lived nearby told 24 heures, a Lausanne newspaper.
But as news of the fire broke, they said, the carefree mood disappeared and people started gathering in the street. “We could hear the sirens in the distance. Around me, people were stunned, worried, silent.”
Too early to determine cause of New Year’s fire in Swiss bar: Authorities
Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the fire’s cause but added that investigators have ruled out an attack.
Police said they could not immediately be more accurate about how many people had been killed in the blaze.
The wounded were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.
Swiss police believe around 40 died at Swiss bar explosion, Italy says
A fire at a bar in the Swiss ski Alps has left people dead and injured during New Year’s festivities, police said early on Thursday (January 1, 2026).
Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Swiss police believed around 40 people died and 100 were injured.
It added that the blaze was not thought to have been caused by arson. The victims could not be immediately identified because of the severity of their burns, the Ministry added.
Multiple people were killed in the blaze, and several others were injured in the Alpine Swiss ski resort municipality of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, police said.
‘Several tens’ dead, about 100 injured in fire at Swiss Alps bar during New Year’s celebration
Swiss ski police said “several tens of people” are assumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a Swiss Alps bar during a New Year’s celebration.
Specific casualty numbers were not immediately available from the fire at the bar called Le Constellation.
Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to aid victims, including some from different countries, officials said.
“We are devastated,” Frederic Gisler, commander of the Valais Cantonal police, said during a news conference.
The wounded were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.
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