Switzerland - "Several dozen" dead and about 100 injured in explosion in bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss ski resort, 1 January 2026

[MelmothTheLost]

A couple of things which stood out to me in this morning's update in the Mail:

"Reports have also pointed to the club receiving a safety score of just 6.5 out of ten on listings website Wheree, although it is unclear how the rating was calculated from reviews of the business."

And:

"Mr Moretti told how he opened Le Constellation which was in a previously abandoned building after doing much of the building work himself over nearly six months."

Couple who own 'disaster waiting to happen' Swiss bar where 47 died

The owners of the Swiss nightclub which erupted into an inferno killing at least 47 people and injuring 115 others are a husband and wife French couple who are powerful figures

www.dailymail.co.uk

So the owner carried much of the building work himself rather than engaging qualified contractors to do it, presumably to save money. This raises serious questions as to who inspected and signed the work off, if indeed any inspection took place, before the venue opened for business.

The photo which is said to show the moment when the acoustic foam caught fire appears to show the foam to be this stuff: Acoustic foam - Wikipedia. Note that the article states that "Many acoustic foam products are treated with dyes and/or fire retardants." Ie many but not all, so this foam may have had no fire retardant treatment at all.

I suspect we're going to learn that Moretti's decision to carry out the building work himself directly led to unsuitable or illegal materials being used in the refurbishment and fitting out.

 

[airportwoman]

Everything I've read about this place screams "disaster waiting to happen" and that it didn't meet even the most basic building codes.

 

[detective.moon]

Certains grands brûlés atteints sur 60% de leur surface corporelle après l'incendie de Crans-Montana | RTS

Les blessés de l'incendie de Crans-Montana pris en charge par le CHUV à Lausanne sont brûlés sur environ 60% de la surface corporelle, témoigne le médecin Wassim Raffoul dans Forum. Des blessures très sérieuses et très longues à traiter qui peuvent se combiner avec des facteurs aggravants, comme...

www.rts.ch

a doctor says among the injured there are 13 adults and 8 minors who have more than 60% of their skin burned, which means they are at risk for organ failure and their situation is life threatening added injuries from inhaling toxic smoke or breaking bones while trying to escape can make their situation even more difficult to treat.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Certains grands brûlés atteints sur 60% de leur surface corporelle après l'incendie de Crans-Montana | RTS

Les blessés de l'incendie de Crans-Montana pris en charge par le CHUV à Lausanne sont brûlés sur environ 60% de la surface corporelle, témoigne le médecin Wassim Raffoul dans Forum. Des blessures très sérieuses et très longues à traiter qui peuvent se combiner avec des facteurs aggravants, comme...

www.rts.ch

a doctor says among the injured there are 13 adults and 8 minors who have more than 60% of their skin burned, which means they are at risk for organ failure and their situation is life threatening added injuries from inhaling toxic smoke or breaking bones while trying to escape can make their situation even more difficult to treat.

These are life-changing injuries even if not life-ending. I would imagine there are going to be massive claims on the bar's PLI and ELI for all the victims.

 

[Eloise]

Looks like several people had the sparklers - at least 5

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/several-killed-as-new-year-explosion-rips-through-luxury-swiss-ski-resort-bar/news-story/b920811482a400ec67ecba60c3ce23bc

They may well of been in violation of several things.

But, the "they" might not of been inclined to think about various standards, codes and laws at the time. Some reports mention sparklers, others imply that there could have been only one couple. The sparkler(s) may have been "smuggled" into the club by young people with out the owners knowing.

In either case, the "They" could well consist of:

A young couple / people having sparklers on them and then making impulsive decisions as midnight struck on New Years Eve.

I do blame the owners if the venue was unsafe. Even if they didn't break any laws, I would still blame them. Its duty of care. People smuggling in sparklers into a basement club in Australia would probably just be kicked out. You need to use fire retardant materials, and then also have knowledgeable and trained bar and security staff who would prevent unsafe behaviour by confiscating contraband, or just bouncing miscreants out and conducting crowd control. The DM article says the club "use(d) sparklers as props to make a theatrical show of serving drinks." Doesn't sound like patrons smuggling anything in, but the DM can be light on facts.

They also said, "Two French women, Emma and Albane, told French media that they were in the club when the fire broke out, which they believe started after a waitress put 'birthday candles' on top of some champagne bottles."

 

[detective.moon]

Rund 40 Tote in Crans Montana +++ Viele Schwerverletzte

Während einer Silvesterparty in einer Bar in Crans-Montana sind mehrere Dutzend Menschen tödlich verletzt worden.

www.srf.ch

this live blog describes family members visiting different hospitals, hoping for answers. both the deceased and injured can still be hard to identify. some of them are unrecognisable, and some of the injured are not in a state where they can communicate.

the situation is a lot to handle for the hospitals and some staff has come in to work on their day off. other countries are offering to take patients too, from
neighbouring countries to north macedonia and sweden.

 

[Sjöberg]

So the owner carried much of the building work himself

To be fair, this is pretty much the norm for both homes and small businesses in most of Europe. This in and of itself is not an indicator of anything sub-par (even more so in countries where many building companies have low reputations for using under-quilified cheap workforce from abroad that are used to lower standards).

Looks like several people had the sparklers - at least 5

Using that specific type of sparklers indoors might not be illegal (I'm not sure, does anyone know?), but it was certainly a lapse in judgement. I suspect that alcohol intoxication and "everyone is doing it, so it must be safe" attitude were at play.

I love fire, as in enjoy bonfires and use a lot of candles during the dark season and on respective holidays. But fire always means safety precautions. Holding something that emits sparks close to anything is not a good idea.

 

[Charlot123]

I would think
that any place organizing such public event
should have permission from Fire Service Department.

It really doesn't matter when the place was built.
Safety Regulations are the same for all.

There are also annual inspections to make sure such places are safe for people attending.
Well, at least in my country.
Those who don't update safety measures,
cannot operate.

JMO

All pyrotechnics should have been prohibited inside the clubs after this event

Lame Horse fire - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The typical course of events:

A popular bar where lots of young people come

Pyrotechnics starting the fire

Fire spreading to the ceilings and the wooden beams

Not enough exits, or exits are poorly marked, or, at times, they are narrow or blocked

When the doors are opened, there is an influx of air into the hot building that can paradoxically worsen the fire

More often or not, there are no sprinklers

Some people die in the stampede

Sadly, foam insulation is very flammable

In Switzerland, it seems, at least the EMT and the triage worked very well; this may increase the survival rate

But, we have so many pyrotechnics-related fires, maybe the time has come to ban them? They are so unsafe.

 

[Rikissa]

The names of those who have died, or been injured, are beginning to be published. Among those injured is a young football player, Tahirys Dos Santos (19), in FC Metz, his club informed. He was severly burned, and has been airlifted to a hospital in Germany.
Links translated into English.

Football. Drame de Crans-Montana : le jeune défenseur du FC Metz Tahirys Dos Santos parmi les blessés

Le jeune défenseur messin de 19 ans Tahirys Dos Santos figure parmi les nombreux blessés du terrible incendie qui s'est produit dans un bar de la station de ski de Crans-Montana, en Suisse, pendant les festivités du Nouvel An, a indiqué, ce jeudi, le FC Metz.

www-republicain--lorrain-fr.translate.goog

Suisse. Drame de Crans-Montana : un joueur de football, beaucoup d'Italiens... Qui sont les victimes ?

Les autorités valaisannes sont restées prudentes ce jeudi sur le nombre de victimes, dont l’identification ne fait que commencer.

www-republicain--lorrain-fr.translate.goog

As there are so many burn victims, hospitals in other European countries are helping to take care of them.

Investigators work to identify victims of deadly Swiss Alps bar fire

Investigators continue to identify victims of a deadly fire in Crans-Montana's Le Constellation bar, which killed at least 40 and injured 115 during a New Year's celebration.

www.euronews.com

As Switzerland are one of those countries where the European Health Insurance Card is valid, those people injured don't have to worry about the cost of treatment, if they are insured in their own country, it's the same in the other countries too. (The card isn't for getting healthcare when needed, that is always provided, the card is for the price you have to pay upfront when seeking healthcare. Without the card you might have to pay more, and then get reimbursed when you get home, with the card you pay the same as those who live in the country you visit.)

European Health Insurance Card

The European Health Insurance Card makes it easier for people from the European Union’s 27 Member States as well as from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the UK to access health care services during temporary visits abroad.

employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu

An article about fire safety rules in Switzerland. Translated ibto English with Google Translate.

Suisse. Drame de Crans-Montana : les règles de sécurité ont-elles été respectées ?

La tragédie de Nouvel an à Crans-Montana, identique à d’autres drames du même type dans des bars ou discothèques bondés, dans d’autres pays, pose ...

www-republicain--lorrain-fr.translate.goog

 

[Dotta]

" 'We still have hope'​

say parents searching for missing teen son after Crans-Montana fire.​

The parents of a missing teenager who was celebrating New Year’s Eve at a Swiss ski resort bar
shared their heartache on Friday
and said they are holding onto hope that he is alive.

Christophe and Laetitia Brodard from Lausanne have not heard from their 16-year-old son Arthur
since he joined around 10 of his friends
who had a table at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana.

They said the group attend the Collège Champittet Pully school in Lausanne and often meet in the resort town,
where many of their families have holiday homes, to ski and celebrate New Year.

'We are so empty.
We think he could still be alive so we still have hope of finding him',
Christophe Brodard said he and his wife were still searching for their son.

'They ordered a bottle of champagne with a sparkler.
One or two minutes later,
it was the apocalypse.

Arthur is really responsible.
He is a good person
and he was so happy to be spending that night with his friends'.”

https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/switzerland-ski-resort-fire-live-intl-hnk

 

[Dotta]

"New video ​

shows attempts to extinguish bar ceiling fire.​

A video that appears to show an attempt at putting out fire spreading on the ceiling of Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana.

Switzerland resort fire ‘likely started by sparklers in champagne bottles’, says attorney general – as it happened

Officials say 40 people were killed and 119 injured, with some in hospital still unidentified due to ‘horrific’ injuries

www.theguardian.com

- Two women told the French broadcaster BFMTV
they had been inside when they saw
a bartender carrying a female member of staff on his shoulders.
She was holding a lit birthday candle on top of a bottle that set fire to the wooden ceiling.

The flames spread quickly and caused the ceiling to collapse, they said.

The canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said she could not comment on reports that lighted candles had caused the inferno.

- Swiss president Guy Parmelin
has said the country will hold
five days of mourning,
describing the blaze as one of the most traumatic events in Switzerland’s history."

 

[Dotta]

"Mourners gather
to pay tribute to Crans-Montana resort fire victims.

Worshippers take part in the New Year’s Mass at the Catholic church of Montana Station
to remember the victims of the fire."

Mourners gather to pay tribute to Crans-Montana resort fire victims – in pictures

Hundreds gathered in silence in the freezing night in Crans-Montana on Thursday evening, laying flowers and lighting candles to remember those killed in a blaze as they celebrated the new year. About 40 people died and more than 100 were injured in the fire that ripped through the crowded Le...

www.theguardian.com

 

[detective.moon]

french media has shared these two pictures of what seems to be what started the fire

DOCUMENT BFMTV. Des photos montrent le moment du départ de l'incendie mortel à Crans-Montana

Deux photos, transmises à BFMTV, montrent l'ambiance de la soirée avant le début de l'incendie et surtout plusieurs cierges magiques allumés près du plafond. Sur une de ces photos, la mousse au plafond prend feu sous les étincelles des bougies.

www.bfmtv.com

 

[detective.moon]

some translated witness reports from people who knew the bar and the area.. some of it is hard to read

Stefan confirms that there was only one way out of the basement. That way out was the staircase leading to the ground floor. “Evacuating three hundred people via a staircase is very difficult. You don't know how it happened, how people reacted. Of course, there was panic.”

[…]

“I had just come from another café and saw the bodies lying in the street. That was in front of my door, and there I saw the white sheets covering the dead people and the aluminum blankets covering people who had burns. It was total chaos. You saw people whose fingers were missing. People who were completely burned. The worst thing was the screaming. The screaming of young girls in pain as they were lifted onto stretchers. That screaming pierced you to the core. And it went on and on, for hours on end."

Cocquyt also says that there was only one staircase leading up from the basement. "There was only one exit, which is quite bizarre. Switzerland has high standards for everything. It's quite bizarre that they allowed something like this. In Belgium, a basement café must always have two exits. That's probably also the case in Switzerland, but something went wrong. They're going to investigate that thoroughly. They want to know what happened here and who is to blame."

Cocquyt heard that in Switzerland, champagne, cava, or spumante are often served with fireworks. "Switzerland is incredibly expensive. So if you buy champagne for 200-300 euros a bottle, you get some fireworks with it. And apparently that caused the fire.

Brand Crans-Montana lijkt door ijsfonteinen ontstaan

De brand brak rond 01.30 uur uit in de kelder van Le Constellation. De beginnende brand veranderde vrijwel onmiddellijk in een vuurzee.

nos.nl

 

[Dotta]

View attachment 634503
View attachment 634504
french media has shared these two pictures of what seems to be what started the fire

DOCUMENT BFMTV. Des photos montrent le moment du départ de l'incendie mortel à Crans-Montana

Deux photos, transmises à BFMTV, montrent l'ambiance de la soirée avant le début de l'incendie et surtout plusieurs cierges magiques allumés près du plafond. Sur une de ces photos, la mousse au plafond prend feu sous les étincelles des bougies.

www.bfmtv.com

Thanks.
This basement looks like .... ummm....a bomb shelter.
It gives me creeps
But then, I usually keep clear of such suffocating places.
Really folks, mind your safety when visiting.
It seems one can only depend on one's own common sense
as safety precautions seem to mean nothing in some places.
Rules seem not to apply to some.
Some think they are above the rules.

JMO

 

[Dotta]

Cocquyt heard that in Switzerland, champagne, cava, or spumante are often served with fireworks. "Switzerland is incredibly expensive. So if you buy champagne for 200-300 euros a bottle, you get some fireworks with it. And apparently that caused the fire.

300 Euros for a ???
Wow!
It is a pity this money is not invested in safety of places where clients pay so much

Another stereotype re ideal and safe destination ruined.
Better to tighten supervision & inspections
or tourism industry might suffer.

JMO

 

[detective.moon]

300 Euros for a ???
Wow!
It is a pity this money is not invested in safety of places where clients pay so much

Another stereotype re ideal and safe destination ruined.
Better to tighten supervision or tourism industry might suffer.

JMO

switzerland is so expensive! my brother moved to zürich over a decade ago, and as a dutch person going to the supermarket there is a shocking experience, lol. (wages are a lot higher too, so that evens it out for people who live and work there). my brother said crans montana is a place where mostly wealthy people would go, too. in the pictures above the bar doesn’t look very fancy or nice at all. and i agree with others who said that it seems like an uncharacteristic thing to happen in switzerland.

 

[Dotta]

DBM

 

[Rikissa]

There's a short video (9 seconds) of how someone is trying to put out the flames by hitting the fire with a towel! instead of using a fire extinguisher, something which might have caused the fire to spread more quickly. I don't know if there was a fire extinguisher nearby or not, but if there were, and somebody had used it when the first flames were seen, things would have ended in a totally different way.
I'm surprised to see that people stood by and watched the fire, and filmed, instead of leaving the area as quickly as possible. (Don't schools have some kind of 'fire safety education' at all?)

Swiss ski resort fire: many of injured in life-threatening condition, say officials

About 40 people died in Crans-Montana bar fire, with investigators saying it could take days to identify all victims

www.theguardian.com

It's also mentioned that maybe 80 to 100 of those injured are in a life-threatening condition, with third-degree burns on more that 15% of the body.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2007012682315006340

"The first victim of the deadly New Year's Eve fire that tore through a bar at an Alpine ski resort has been named as a 17-year-old Italian golf prodigy.

Emmanuele Galeppini's death was confirmed in an Instagram post by the Italian Golf Federation,
which remembered the teen as
a 'young athlete who embodied passion and authentic values'.

'In this time of great sorrow,
our thoughts go out to his family
and all those who loved him',
the tribute added."

Rest in Peace.