New Year’s joy descends into panic: What caused the Swiss ski bar inferno?
At least 40 young people looking forward to 2026 are believed to have died after a ski club New Year’s party descended into fiery chaos.
Another 115 were injured with most caused by the crush to get out on the single staircase to revellers packed in the basement of Le Constellation bar less than two hours after midnight Thursday.
Vigils are being held at the popular ski resort town of Crans-Montana, nestled in the Alps in southwestern Switzerland as the country comes to term’s with one of their worst ever disasters.
How did the inferno begin?
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The blaze broke out around 1.30am Thursday inside the Le Constellation bar amid the holiday celebration.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders as she held a lit candle in a bottle. The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling, they told the broadcaster.
Video from inside the club shows flames spreading across the foam insulation on the ceiling, spreading instantly.
People frantically tried to escape from the basement nightclub up a narrow flight of stairs and through a narrow door, causing a crowd surge, one of the women said.
Horrifying footage shows desperate people struggling to get out of the venue.
Some slam at windows as dozens of others piled on top of each other at one of the exits to the street. Others scream ‘help us’.
A young man at the scene said people smashed windows to escape the fire, some gravely injured, reported BFMTV. He said he saw about 20 people scrambling to get out of the smoke and flames, likening what happened to a horror movie.
The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, said Mathias Reynard, head of the regional government of the Valais Canton.
(Picture: AP)
Who were the victims?
None of the identities of the dead have been officially identified. Some friends claimed due to the condition of the charred bodies it could take weeks to confirm the identities of the missing.
But Swiss Sresident Guy Parmelin confirmed many of the victims were youths.
He said: ‘Many of the victims were young, with many hopes and dreams.
‘The fire which took place in a bar is one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced.
‘The Swiss government wants to share their condolences to families and loved ones of the victims, even though no words can represent this brutal loss.’
Was the fire deliberate?
While officials said Thursday it was too early to determine the fire’s cause, investigators have already ruled out that it could have been an attack.
Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage, said Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Canton attorney general, at a news conference.
Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families, according to Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler.
How bad were the injuries?
One witness, Gianni, told Swiss outlet 20 Minuten that victims suffered severe burns, with faces ‘completely disfigured’ and hair burned away.
He said many were left blackened by the flames, with their clothes fused to their skin. Others reported victims having their clothes completely burned away from their bodies.
What is a ‘flashover’ fire?
The Swiss officials called the blaze an ’embrasement généralisé,’ a French firefighting term describing how a blaze can trigger the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently and cause what English-speaking firefighters would call a flashover or a backdraft.
A flashover is a rapid and extreme fire that occurs when the entire room reaches a critical temperature, around 600C, causing almost all the combustible materials to ignite at the same time.
Flashover is extremely dangerous because it can overwhelm firefighters quickly, causing rapid escalation and trap people inside the structure.
Victims suffered from serious burns and smoke inhalation. Some were flown to specialist hospitals across the country.
Authorities urged people to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require the already overwhelmed medical resources.
Was Le Constellation safe?
The basement venue in the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana, was fitted with wooden furnishings and foam-style ceiling material and had only one narrow staircase for revellers trying to escape.
The bar had been rated just 6.5 out of 10 for safety, after inspectors found a potentially fatal combination of flammable interiors and lack of fire escapes. Others complained about flammable furniture.
Were any British people in the bar?
It is not yet known if there are any British nationals among the victims.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: ‘Our thoughts are with all those injured and killed in the terrible tragedy in Crans-Montana, and we pay tribute to the Swiss emergency services who are leading the response.
‘We will continue to monitor the situation, and our consular staff stand ready to support any British nationals who may be affected.’
The King has said he is ‘greatly saddened’ by a fire at a Swiss ski resort which killed around 40 people at a new year party.
Charles said it was ‘utterly heartbreaking that a night of celebration for young people and families instead turned to such nightmarish tragedy’.