Swiss Alps fire leaves families searching for answers after deadly New Year’s Eve blaze

Investigators are racing to identify victims and determine the cause of a catastrophic fire that tore through a packed New Year’s Eve party at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people and injuring roughly 115, many of them critically.

As dawn broke on the first hours of 2026, relatives and friends began a desperate search for loved ones, flooding social media with photos and pleas for information after the blaze engulfed the Le Constellation bar shortly after 1:30am.

“We tried to reach them; some of their locations are still showing here,” said Valais, a teenager who had been at the party, gesturing toward the bar now sealed off by white tarpaulins and temporary barriers. “We took loads of photos [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, every social network possible to try to find them,” said Eleonore. “But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents don’t know.”

Authorities warned that identifying the dead could take days or even weeks, as several bodies were badly burned.

“The first objective is to assign names to all the bodies,” Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud told a news conference, stressing the painstaking nature of the task.

Mathias Reynard, head of the Valais cantonal government, said forensic teams were relying on dental records and DNA samples. “All this work needs to be done because the information is so terrible and sensitive that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100 percent sure,” he said.

Witnesses described chaos inside the bar as flames spread, with people smashing windows to escape while others, badly burned, stumbled into the street.

Police have not confirmed how many people were inside the venue when the fire broke out. Le Constellation has a listed capacity of about 300 people, plus space for another 40 on its terrace.

More than 30 of the injured were transferred to specialist burns units in Zurich and Lausanne, with six others taken to Geneva, Swiss media reported.

While Swiss officials have said about 40 people died, Italian authorities have put the toll at 47, citing information from Switzerland. Italy and France have both reported missing nationals.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is expected to visit Crans-Montana on Friday, according to Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland. Of the injured, all but five have now been identified, he said, adding that six Italians remain missing and 13 are hospitalised. France said nine of its citizens were injured and eight are still unaccounted for.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin called the fire “a calamity of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” and ordered flags flown at half-staff for five days.

Authorities have ruled out an attack and declined to speculate on the cause. The canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said investigators would examine whether the bar complied with safety regulations, including the number and accessibility of exits.

Multiple sources told AFP that the bar’s owners are French nationals originally from Corsica. Relatives say they are safe but have not been reachable since the tragedy.

Tags: Switzerland, Crans-Montana, fire, New Year’s Eve, disaster, Valais, emergency response

Swiss Alps fire leaves families searching for answers after deadly New Year’s Eve blaze

Investigators are racing to identify victims and determine the cause of a catastrophic fire that tore through a packed New Year’s Eve party at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people and injuring roughly 115, many of them critically.

As dawn broke on the first hours of 2026, relatives and friends began a desperate search for loved ones, flooding social media with photos and pleas for information after the blaze engulfed the Le Constellation bar shortly after 1:30am.

“We tried to reach them; some of their locations are still showing here,” said Valais, a teenager who had been at the party, gesturing toward the bar now sealed off by white tarpaulins and temporary barriers. “We took loads of photos [and] we put them on Instagram, Facebook, every social network possible to try to find them,” said Eleonore. “But there’s nothing. No response. We called the parents. Nothing. Even the parents don’t know.”

Authorities warned that identifying the dead could take days or even weeks, as several bodies were badly burned.

“The first objective is to assign names to all the bodies,” Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud told a news conference, stressing the painstaking nature of the task.

Mathias Reynard, head of the Valais cantonal government, said forensic teams were relying on dental records and DNA samples.

“All this work needs to be done because the information is so terrible and sensitive that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100 percent sure,” he said.

Witnesses described chaos inside the bar as flames spread, with people smashing windows to escape while others, badly burned, stumbled into the street.

Police have not confirmed how many people were inside the venue when the fire broke out. Le Constellation has a listed capacity of about 300 people, plus space for another 40 on its terrace.

More than 30 of the injured were transferred to specialist burns units in Zurich and Lausanne, with six others taken to Geneva, Swiss media reported.

While Swiss officials have said about 40 people died, Italian authorities have put the toll at 47, citing information from Switzerland. Italy and France have both reported missing nationals.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is expected to visit Crans-Montana on Friday, according to Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland. Of the injured, all but five have now been identified, he said, adding that six Italians remain missing and 13 are hospitalised. France said nine of its citizens were injured and eight are still unaccounted for.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin called the fire “a calamity of unprecedented, terrifying proportions” and ordered flags flown at half-staff for five days.

Authorities have ruled out an attack and declined to speculate on the cause. The canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said investigators would examine whether the bar complied with safety regulations, including the number and accessibility of exits.

Multiple sources told AFP that the bar’s owners are French nationals originally from Corsica. Relatives say they are safe but have not been reachable since the tragedy.