Swiss bar fire death toll rises to 41 after teen dies

A teenager injured in the New Year’s Day blaze that tore through a basement bar at a Swiss Alpine ski resort has died in hospital, pushing the death toll of one of the country’s worst modern disasters to 41, authorities said.

The death was announced on Saturday, a month after the inferno at the Crans-Montana resort that left 115 people injured. Many of the wounded remain in hospitals in Switzerland and abroad.

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

Pilloud said no further details would be released at this stage as the investigation continues.

The victims ranged in age from 14 to 39, though most were teenagers; only four were older than 24. Among the dead are 23 Swiss nationals, including one French-Swiss dual national, and 18 foreign citizens.

Investigators believe the fire began when partygoers raised champagne bottles topped with sparklers too close to sound insulation foam lining the bar’s basement ceiling. Prosecutors are examining whether the foam met safety standards and whether the use of such sparklers was permitted. Authorities have also said fire safety inspections had not been conducted at the venue since 2019.

Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the bar’s owners, French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti, on suspicion of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing a fire by negligence. A court in Valais ordered Jacques Moretti into three months of pretrial detention on January 12, but later released him on bail on January 23.

The investigation has widened to include Crans-Montana’s current head of public safety and a former municipal fire safety officer.

In the immediate aftermath of the blaze, the most seriously injured were airlifted to specialist burns units across Switzerland and four other European countries. Switzerland’s Federal Office for Civil Protection said that, as of Monday, 44 patients were still receiving treatment abroad. The Wallis health ministry said 37 patients remained in Swiss hospitals, with some still in intensive care.

Patient numbers continue to shift as people are transferred between facilities for different stages of treatment or readmitted.