Swiss authorities on Friday began the grim task of finding the mostly young victims of a… deadly bar fire on New Year’s Eve killing about 40 people and injuring more than 100 at a ski resort in Crans-Montana.
Italian authorities say the death toll could rise to 47. Reuters reported thisciting information from Swiss officials. Several Italian nationals were reportedly among those killed, injured or still missing.
The fire ripped through the Le Constellation bar in the Alpine resort in the early hours of Thursday, turning a busy party night into panic and tragedy. Officials said the fire appeared to be an accident and not an attack.
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Mourners leave flowers and light candles at a makeshift memorial near the site of a deadly New Year’s Eve bar fire in the Swiss Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana. (Maxime Schmid/AFP via Getty Images)
Swiss authorities said the severity of burns suffered by many of the victims could delay formal identification for days as forensic teams worked to determine the identities of the dead.
Police and government officials said a large portion of the victims were teenagers and young adults, many believed to be between 16 and 26 years old. In Switzerland, the legal drinking age is 16 for beer and wine.
“All this work has to be done because the information is so terrible and sensitive that nothing can be told to the families unless we are 100% sure,” said Mathias Reynard, head of government of the canton of Valais. He said investigators used dental records and DNA samples to identify the victims.
Italy and France said some of their nationals were still missing Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani visited Crans-Montana on Friday and laid flowers.
The number of Italians involved in the incident currently stands at 19, the newspaper said BBCwhich quoted the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Australia also confirmed that one of its nationals was injured.
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Emergency services and medical aircraft are seen at a regional airport in Switzerland as victims of a deadly New Year’s Eve bar fire in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana were transported for treatment. (REUTERS/Lisa Leutner)
Some survivor stories and video broadcasts on social media suggested the bar’s basement ceiling may have caught fire when the twinkling candles used during bottle service got too close, although authorities said the cause had not yet been formally determined.
Officials said the fire caused the violent ignition of flammable gases — a phenomenon known to English-speaking firefighters as flashover or backdraft, according to The Associated Press.
Axel Clavier, a 16 year old from Paris who survived the fire described “total chaos” in the bar. One of his friends died and “two or three were missing,” he told the newspaper.
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Rescuers and firefighters work at the scene of an explosion that ripped through a bar in Crans-Montana on January 1, 2026. (MAXIME SCHMID/AFP via Getty Images)
Clavier said he did not see the fire start, but recalled waitresses entering the room with champagne bottles with sparklers on them shortly before the fire broke out.
Another witness told BFMTV that people were breaking windows to escape the flames. Panicked parents arrived on the scene to see if their children were trapped inside.
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Rescuers are seen at the scene of an explosion that ripped through a bar in Crans-Montana on January 1, 2026. (MAXIME SCHMID/AFP via Getty Images)
Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to help victims from multiple countries, officials said. Hospitals quickly became overwhelmedwith intensive care units and operating rooms reaching capacity.
Swiss authorities later said the burns unit in Valais was full and that Italy had provided a large burns unit in Milan to treat the injured.
On Friday, mourners began leaving flowers and candles at a makeshift memorial at the cordoned off bar as the seaside resort struggled to absorb the scale of the tragedy.
