Around 40 people confirmed dead after Swiss ski resort fire
115 were injured in the incident at Crans Montana
Last updated 1st Jan 2026
Officials in Switzerland say around 40 people have died in a fire at a ski resort bar where partygoers were celebrating New Year.
They estimate about 100 others have been injured after flames ripped through the venue in Crans ((pron: cron)) Montana.
The resort is best known as an international ski and golf venue, and overnight, its crowded Le Constellation bar morphed from a scene of revelry into the site of potentially one of Switzerland's worst tragedies.
"Several tens of people" were presumed killed at the bar, Valais Canton police commander Frederic Gisler said during a news conference.
Work was under way to identify the victims and inform their families, but "that will take time and for the time being, it is premature to give you a more precise figure," Mr Gisler said, adding that the community was "devastated".
Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Canton attorney general, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire.
"At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack," Ms Pilloud said.
Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old from Paris who survived the blaze, described "total chaos" inside the bar.
He lost his jacket, shoes, phone and bank card while fleeing, but "I am still alive and it's just stuff", he said.
"I'm still in shock," he added.
Officials described how the blaze likely triggered the release of combustible gases that ignited violently and caused what firefighters call a flashover or backdraft.
"This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare," Mathias Reynard, head of the regional government of the Valais Canton, said.
The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theatre at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, Mr Reynard said.
Crans-Montana is less than three miles (5km) from Sierre, Switzerland, where 28 people, including many children, were killed when a bus from Belgium crashed inside a Swiss tunnel in 2012.
In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require medical resources that are already overwhelmed.