Eighteen-year-old Swiss national injured in blaze at Swiss ski resort died on Saturday

A teenager injured in the fire that engulfed a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana during new year celebrations has died in hospital, taking the death toll from the blaze to 41.

The Wallis canton’s public prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said in a brief statement on Sunday: “An 18-year-old Swiss national died at a hospital in Zurich on January 31. The death toll from the fire at Le Constellation bar on January 1 2026 has now risen to 41.”

David Vocat ist der Feuerwehrkommandant von Crans-Montana. In der Hölle der Silvesternacht hat er getan, was er tun konnte. Danach dachte er kurz, ihm gehe die Kraft aus. Doch sein Pflichtgefühl war stärker.

Nach der Brandkatastrophe in Crans-Montana muss der Barbetreiber in U-Haft. Doch im Zentrum der Vorwürfe steht das ganze Wesen des an Skandalen reichen Kantons Wallis.

The community spirit of the close-knit Swiss resort where at least 40 people died in a fire is strong even as inhabitants say they feel crushed by the tragedy

Mourners have continued to bring flowers and light candles to a makeshift memorial in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana to commemorate those who lost their lives when a blaze ripped through a packed bar popular with young people celebrating the new year, killing at least 40.

“We came to light a candle,” said Sisi Boisard, a regular visitor to Crans-Montana from France for the last 20 years. “We have five children and can’t begin to imagine what these families are going through. This is a tragedy that has cut profoundly, but not just here – it’s being felt across the world.”

Footage and witness statements show blaze that killed about 40 was ‘very rapid’, prosecutor says

Investigators believe fountain sparklers mounted on champagne bottles and held too close to the ceiling sparked the deadly fire that tore through a crowded bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people and injuring more than 100.

“Everything suggests the fire started from the burning candles or ‘Bengal lights’ that had been attached to champagne bottles,” the prosecutor Béatrice Pilloud said on Friday. “These went too close to the ceiling.”

Collective grief hangs over Swiss resort as relatives desperately seek information about missing loved ones

The group of 15 young people had travelled from Milan to Crans-Montana, some of them crossing the border by car, others by train, to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The Swiss ski resort was well known to them, having spent summers here with their families, and a big draw was marking the new year in the bar that in recent years had become known as the place to be.

Eight from the group managed to escape the inferno that ripped through Le Constellation, killing about 40 people, while three are among the 80 who were critically injured. Two of the eldest, Marco, 20, and Gabriele, 18, had planned to join their friends in the venue – appreciated by young people for being an affordable place to party in a resort popular with celebrities and wealthy skiers – shortly after midnight but by a last-minute twist of fate decided not to.

Blaze that swept through crowded New Year’s Eve bar in Crans-Montana also injured 115 people

• Le Constellation bar fire in Switzerland: what we know so far

Swiss investigators are racing to identify the victims of a fire that tore through a crowded bar, killing about 40 people and injuring 115 who were celebrating at a New Year’s Eve party in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana.

President, Guy Parmelin, has said the country will hold five days of mourning, describing the blaze as one of the most traumatic events in Switzerland’s history. “It was a drama of an unknown scale,” he said, paying tribute to the many “young lives that were lost and interrupted”.

New year party at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana turned into tragedy as flames shot across the ceiling

The new year had passed its first hour and the party in Le Constellation was in full swing with revellers dancing to thumping hip-hop. Dawn was far off and the teenagers and twenty-somethings were in no hurry to leave the bar. It was, after all, New Year’s Day.

Outside, darkness draped Crans-Montana, a ski resort in the Swiss Alps with a reputation for posh luxury. Le Constellation, however, had few pretensions: a cavernous venue with TV screens on the top floor to watch sport, and a basement with low lighting, loud music and a dancefloor.

Nach dem Inferno in der Bar „Le Constellation“ in Crans-Montana herrscht Fassungslosigkeit. Unter den 40 Toten sind vermutlich besonders viele junge Menschen. In dem Bergdorf fragt man sich: Wieso mussten in der Silvesternacht Dutzende beim Feiern sterben?

Police say blaze tore through crowded bar where people were seeing in the new year

• Switzerland resort fire – latest updates

About 40 people are believed to have been killed and 100 injured after a fire tore through a crowded bar during a New Year’s Eve party in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, according to the Italian foreign ministry.

Swiss police confirmed “several dozen” partygoers were dead. The victims could not be immediately identified because of the severity of their burns, the ministry said. It confirmed arson was not responsible, with the blaze thought to be the result of an accident.