Switzerland - 40 dead and 116 injured in fire in bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss ski resort, 1 January 2026

[djanga]

One of the missing Italian teenagers, Leonardo Bove, has been found alive but severely injured. According to the article, due to the seriousness of his injuries, he couldn’t be transferred to another hospital. I can’t imagine the injuries he sustained or the pain he endured.

Leonardo Bove, chi è il giovane bomber ricoverato a Sion: “È grave ma vivo, non può essere trasferito”

Studente del liceo Virgilio di Milano e calciatore della Franco Scarioni 1925, si trovava a Crans-Montana con tre compagni di scuola anche loro feriti e ricoverati in Svizzera. I messaggi sui social: “Forza Leonardo, siamo tutti con te”

www.ilgiorno.it

 

[Serononin]

One of the missing Italian teenagers, Leonardo Bove, has been found alive but severely injured. According to the article, due to the seriousness of his injuries, he couldn’t be transferred to another hospital. I can’t imagine the injuries he sustained or the pain he endured.

Leonardo Bove, chi è il giovane bomber ricoverato a Sion: “È grave ma vivo, non può essere trasferito”

Studente del liceo Virgilio di Milano e calciatore della Franco Scarioni 1925, si trovava a Crans-Montana con tre compagni di scuola anche loro feriti e ricoverati in Svizzera. I messaggi sui social: “Forza Leonardo, siamo tutti con te”

www.ilgiorno.it

Poor kid, I hope he makes a good recovery

 

[Herat]

Poor kid, I hope he makes a good recovery

Burns are so dangerous and debilitating. It's not like these kids had multiple broken bones which will heal with time and surgical and rehabilitation care, and give most of them a functional life back.

Severe burns are huge long-term care issues, if the victims can survive the months and years of extremely painful dressing changes, constant risk from infections, need for surgical skin grafting, debilitating effects on the lungs from inhaling chemical smoke.

The lucky ones who will survive the initial 6 months will require constant rehab and grafting. Many will not be functional due to damage to tendons, muscle, and skin resulting in compromising contractures and scars that will limit locomotion, use of hands for fine muscle use, inability to turn their heads due to neck contractures. It is an agonizing long long process to return function if it can be done, and for many there will be extended periods of time institutionalized away from home, family and friends.

These victims will have lost their youth and many will have compromised futures without physical independence.

Recognizing the long-term sequelae of burns as a chronic medical condition - PMC

As medicine continues to advance, many individuals are living longer with injuries previously considered life threatening. These individuals often face numerous long-term physical and psychological sequelae associated with their injury that persist ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Has anyone read anything by the owners of the
Le Constellation that isn't about themselves and their liability? So far I am finding:

“We can neither sleep nor eat. We are not well.”

“We will do everything in our power to help clarify the causes"

“We are doing everything in our power. Our lawyers are involved.”

"Everything was done according to the regulations"

Have they mentioned the victims and their families? I guess the woman's burns do not require hospitalization and the media caught up to them driving in their Jaguar.

Sources:

Owners of Swiss nightclub that burst into flames, killing at least 40, during New Year’s Eve bash break silence

“We can neither sleep nor eat. We are not well.”

nypost.com

Owner of Swiss bar engulfed in New Year fire insists safety norms followed

Questions over safety have raged since the Dec 31 blaze killed 40 people and injured 119. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

Manager of ski bar seen for first time since manslaughter probe

Swiss authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the managers of a ski resort bar where at least 40 people were killed in a devastating fire.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[djanga]

Another boy Kean Kaizer Talingdan is severely injured and is in intensive care in Zurich with severe burns. His father, Yohan Guiot said in interview that victims are injured and bandaged, and it can take time to identify them.

Il papà di Kean, 16enne liceale di Milano: “C’è il dna, mio figlio è grave ma vivo. Quella notte al telefono piangeva: ‘Ho paura, venite’”

Strage di Crans-Montana, Kean Kaizer Talingdan, studente del liceo Virgilio e calciatore, è ricoverato in terapia intensiva a Zurigo con gravi ustioni. Il padre Yohan Guiot: “I ragazzi sono feriti, bendati, serve tempo per identificarli. Io non mangio e non dormo da 3 giorni”

www.ilgiorno.it

 

[Yellowbelly]

Video of The Station fire in Rhode Island (2003) is routinely used for fire safety training in many countries because it vividly demonstrates the compound hazards of using pyrotechnics in a club with foam insulation, poor main entry/exit egress leading to trampled patrons piled on top of each other (the building was designed as a tavern in 1946, not as a club with its much higher volume of patrons moving together), meandering layout, blocked and hidden exits, and the very short time anyone has to exit alive (about 60-90 seconds) once flames have started.

I believe the Bradford fire of 1985 is what usually gets shown in British fire safety videos. The 75 year old main stand at Bradford City FC's Valley Parade football ground caught fire during a match. Once the flames reached the roof, which was wooden and covered in tar impregnated felt, they flames spread along it faster than people could run to get out. 56 people died.

The moral of all this is if you see a fire - run!

 

[Chimera]

Pictures show how Swiss ski bar owners renovated club themselves

Photos have also emerged on social media showing French couple Jacques Moretti, 49, and his wife Jessica, 40, during renovation works at the bar before it opened in 2015.

www.dailymail.co.uk

In the first video at the above link, you can see light/flame colored droplets or gobbets of foam falling on the revelers.
One brave young man threw something at the ceiling which sadly didn't do much good.
Sadly the young people were unaware of the danger and a few moments of waiting might have been deadly for them.

So sorry for the grieving relatives; I'm guessing there's going to be lawsuits in the near future, and imo who can blame them ?
The onus of safety for the patrons is mainly on the owners and customers should've had a reasonable expectation of safety, imo !
Doesn't appear to be any sprinkler system, which is a majorly bad decision by the owners, imo.

 

[Charlot123]

In general, the movement in the world should be to limit plastic, including PVC and polyurethane. They are flammable, they don’t degrade and in general, are no prize acquisition. Really, it is not difficult to change the fashion, including construction industry. Even the clothes…

Viscose Rayon Is Bad for the Planet. Here Are Eco Alternatives

Sworn off polyester? Rayon viscose is billed as an eco-friendly fabric that is made of plants. But there are more sustainable alternatives!

ecocult.com

BTW, first rayon was highly flammable and named “mother-in-law silk”

Rayon – The Silky Science Experiment

Rayon began its life as the first manmade fiber, but lives on today in form of Hawaiian shirts, souvenir jackets, and many other garments

www.heddels.com

BTW, the producers flooding the world with cheap synthetics should be probably sued for false advertising. in my News, I am constantly offered clothes and purses made in North Carolina. (They are never made in North Carolina!)

 

[Herat]

Has anyone read anything by the owners of the
Le Constellation that isn't about themselves and their liability? So far I am finding:

“We can neither sleep nor eat. We are not well.”

“We will do everything in our power to help clarify the causes"

“We are doing everything in our power. Our lawyers are involved.”

"Everything was done according to the regulations"

Have they mentioned the victims and their families? I guess the woman's burns do not require hospitalization and the media caught up to them driving in their Jaguar.

Sources:

Owners of Swiss nightclub that burst into flames, killing at least 40, during New Year’s Eve bash break silence

“We can neither sleep nor eat. We are not well.”

nypost.com

Owner of Swiss bar engulfed in New Year fire insists safety norms followed

Questions over safety have raged since the Dec 31 blaze killed 40 people and injured 119. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

Manager of ski bar seen for first time since manslaughter probe

Swiss authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the managers of a ski resort bar where at least 40 people were killed in a devastating fire.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Yes, I noticed that, too.

I didn't get a good feeling from these two.

 

[Herat]

Pictures show how Swiss ski bar owners renovated club themselves

Photos have also emerged on social media showing French couple Jacques Moretti, 49, and his wife Jessica, 40, during renovation works at the bar before it opened in 2015.

www.dailymail.co.uk

In the first video at the above link, you can see light/flame colored droplets or gobbets of foam falling on the revelers.
One brave young man threw something at the ceiling which sadly didn't do much good.
Sadly the young people were unaware of the danger and a few moments of waiting might have been deadly for them.

So sorry for the grieving relatives; I'm guessing there's going to be lawsuits in the near future, and imo who can blame them ?
The onus of safety for the patrons is mainly on the owners and customers should've had a reasonable expectation of safety, imo !
Doesn't appear to be any sprinkler system, which is a majorly bad decision by the owners, imo.

It's probable that the building code does not mandate an automated fire sprinkler system.

There are many restaurants and bars in old European buildings that have difficulty complying with what would be US building safety and fire suppression codes. This business remodeled an old bar in 2015 and those DM photos clearly document the polyurethane foam noise-suppression panels are installed in that remodel along with wood paneling.

I do not think any US building inspector or fire inspector would allow this, even if they were claimed to be treated with some fire-suppressant. I cannot believe they received a permit to open with that deathtrap on the ceiling.

No fire suppressant material is going to prevent melting or ignition from a spark from a 1000-degree sparkler. As the champagne bottles with sparklers were actually being used for advertising, held above the waitresses heads, the owners and any management cannot claim lack of knowledge of their use.

 

[Chimera]

Hero banker 'saved ten youngsters' from Swiss ski resort blaze

Paolo Campolo, 55, prized open an emergency door on the side of the Le Constellation club as it filled with smoke and flames, allowing struggling revelers to escape.

www.dailymail.co.uk

"... 'They were begging for help in several languages.
They were very young.
'The flames had died down, but scores of people were trapped inside the building that had filled with choking smoke, and there was a crush at the singular exit point.' "
Rbm.

The door that Mr. Campolo opened was above the basement, at ground level according to the article.
No basement exit doors ?

There needed to be at least one if not two; those doors can be alarmed so that patrons can't sneak in, but a single hallway or stairs to exit is just asking for trouble.

That singular exit doomed many people in the Rhode Island club fire as well.
There's a longer video of Campolo forcing that door open where it looks like it opened inwards and he forced it outwards, and where the young people trying to escape were yelling for help & piled several people deep in the only doorway ?
Still smh.
Omo.

 

[Rikissa]

Burns are so dangerous and debilitating. It's not like these kids had multiple broken bones which will heal with time and surgical and rehabilitation care, and give most of them a functional life back.

Severe burns are huge long-term care issues, if the victims can survive the months and years of extremely painful dressing changes, constant risk from infections, need for surgical skin grafting, debilitating effects on the lungs from inhaling chemical smoke.

The lucky ones who will survive the initial 6 months will require constant rehab and grafting. Many will not be functional due to damage to tendons, muscle, and skin resulting in compromising contractures and scars that will limit locomotion, use of hands for fine muscle use, inability to turn their heads due to neck contractures. It is an agonizing long long process to return function if it can be done, and for many there will be extended periods of time institutionalized away from home, family and friends.

These victims will have lost their youth and many will have compromised futures without physical independence.

Recognizing the long-term sequelae of burns as a chronic medical condition - PMC

As medicine continues to advance, many individuals are living longer with injuries previously considered life threatening. These individuals often face numerous long-term physical and psychological sequelae associated with their injury that persist ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Here's an article with Masoud Owji, he was one of the worst injured in the Gothenburg discoteque fire in 1998. He was seventeen at the time of the fire, he got third degree burns all over his body, his left arm had to be amputated, the only finger he had left was his right thumb, and he lost one eye. Now he's participated in several marathon runs in different countries, as well as being an ambasssador for a Swedish organisation arranging "Blood Donor Runs" in several cities in Sweden. (There is another article about his way back, and where his injuries are described, but it's not possible to have it translated into English, but you can find it if you search for his name + Samhall. Samhall is a Swedish state-owned company helping people with disabilites a chance to get a job.)
Translated into English with Google Translate.

Masoud lever tack vare blodgivningen - Blodomloppet 2026

Kvällen på diskoteket i Göteborg hade kunnat vara det sista han gjorde. Tack vare blodgivningen blev det inte så. Masoud lever och har dessutom sprungit nästan alla Blodomlopp. Det är en av de mest tragiska händelserna i den moderna svenska historien. Diskoteksbranden i Göteborg, eller...

blodomloppet-se.translate.goog

 

[Herat]

Other posters have noticed those two, parallel small pipes on the ceiling on the upper right hand corner of this photo. There is a 90-degree turn and they both appear to extend from a slim long white panel on the wall below.

I think they are probably water lines, but for the bar use, not for fire suppression.

 

[Herat]

Another photo, which is being labelled as showing the moment the ceiling ignited, also shows 4 parallel small metal pipes.

There are no fire suppression nozzles visible. There are two items attached to the pipes, one of which looks like a mount for a light. One of the pipes is copper. This suggests to me that it is a hot water line to the bar, and at least one other parallel pipe would be the cold water for the bar, but none of these are mounted like a fire sprinkler system.

The large air handling duct also probably funneled the toxic chemical fumes and flames from the burning polyurethane directly up to the terrace level, so patrons not in the basement would still be instantly exposed to high temperature flaming chemicals.

 

[mickey2942]

The owners had nothing to say? "Non" as they got into their Jaguar?! Not even, "We feel terrible about the tragedy and promise full cooperation with authorities.". That would have at least been more than..."Non".

Obviously, they are in full protective mode and not going to say anything.

 

[Warwick1991]

Other posters have noticed those two, parallel small pipes on the ceiling on the upper right hand corner of this photo. There is a 90-degree turn and they both appear to extend from a slim long white panel on the wall below.

I think they are probably water lines, but for the bar use, not for fire suppression.

View attachment 634858

The larger diameter runs are air ducts - ventilation. You can see louvers built in on the sides. The lesser diameter pipe are probably water lines for either the kitchen or some kind of water source heat pump.

There aren't any sprinkler heads visible. Some of those runs may be steel electrical conduit used for lighting and wiring.

Only one exit - that's a crime IMO. The building was remodeled recently from looking at the photos, and that was the time to add some kind of exit and fire suppression system.

 

[djanga]

Two other Italian victims named as Achile Barosi and Giovanni Tamburi

Achille Barosi è morto: il liceale milanese delle Orsoline vittima della strage a Crans-Montana

Dopo giorni di angoscia e speranza la tragica conferma: il sedicenne è deceduto nell’inferno del Le Constellation. Era stato visto l’ultima volta all’una e mezza mentre rientrava nel locale per recuperare giacca e telefono. Era amico di Chiara Costanzo, la 16enne ginnasta e studentessa del liceo...

www.ilgiorno.it

Morto Giovanni Tamburi, identificato il corpo: era disperso nella strage di Crans-Montana. La diretta

Tragedia in Svizzera, del 16enne di Bologna non si avevano notizie dalla sera della tragedia. Il sindaco Lepore: “La città si stringe alla famiglia”. Il governatore dell’Emilia Romagna: "Notizia che ci riempie di ulteriore dolore". Borgonzoni: "Abbiamo pregato tanto per te, ora sei un angelo"...

www.ilrestodelcarlino.it

 

[Rikissa]

I believe the Bradford fire of 1985 is what usually gets shown in British fire safety videos. The 75 year old main stand at Bradford City FC's Valley Parade football ground caught fire during a match. Once the flames reached the roof, which was wooden and covered in tar impregnated felt, they flames spread along it faster than people could run to get out. 56 people died.

The moral of all this is if you see a fire - run!

Or if the fire has just started and it's still small, and there is a fire extinguisher nearby, and you know how to work it, then you can try to extinguish the fire. And if there are other people there, tell them to get out!
(Had yearly training on how to use a fire extinguisher.)

1) If there is a fire in a room/apartment, and you leave, remember to close the door behind you, as an open door will feed the fire with oxygen, and it will let smoke get into stairways, and might hinder others to get out safely.
2) If you are to use a rolled-up fire hose, do open the water tap before pulling out the fire hose. The city library in Linköping, Sweden, was totally destroyed in 1996 by arson, and it's said that those people who had tried to use a fire hose before the fire brigade arrived had forgotten to turn on the water to the fire hose before they pulled it out.

 

[Charlot123]

Yes, I noticed that, too.

I didn't get a good feeling from these two.

I am trying to be practical. The burned people need to get the best settlements ever so ironically, I want the Morettis’ other businesses to stay open for a while. They should be forbidden to buy cryptocurrency or transfer assets abroad, though.

The Morettis opened this cafe, and then other two more businesses. Their wish to expand and the canton’s attitude to the providers of jobs to the locals is understood.

What needs to be analyzed is:

- what is direct violation of rules

Serving drinks to -16-year-olds is. Drunk sixteen-year-olds’ capacity to get out of the blaze is very low IMHO

Registering the place as “the lounge” with the capacity for 50 people and then letting in 300 is a mega-violation. This is why we see so many victims now

Not having the second exit, open, unblocked and clearly marked would be

- what is stupidity and lack of common sense culminating in a tragedy

Such as firecrackers in champagne bottles

- what is “I-know-best-let-me-do-it-
myself” in the context of a poorly educated person

(Just a side observation: modern-style cafes seem more flammable)

- what could be “being deceived”

It is one thing to buy PU foam on Ali Express to cut corners. But it is also possible that Moretti bought higher-quality flame-retardant foam insulation and got this instead. We don’t know yet. He should have papers for all purchases. Also, what he wrote off his taxes should match what he bought

- what could be direct crime

Possible corruption-type exchanges with the municipality? Unknown but an obvious question

Potentially certain behavior during fire inspections. Is three inspections in ten years the norm?

Some aspects of the first inspection of the newly built cafe, perhaps?

(One should expect papers being signed for every step. If they don’t exist - it is criminal).

About Morettis behavior. In a way, with so many victims, I don’t know if any behavior would be accepted by the world.

 

[sunspun]

That's certainly damming. This sparkler thing is incredibly irresponsible. It certainly appears there were no overhead sprinklers or fire alarms.

Yes, and I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. It's obviously not the first time they used them.

Maybe it was the first time someone held one up while they were on someone's shoulders. I can't believe the danger in that wasn't overtly apparent to everyone, or at least to someone.

But even without holding one up while on shoulders, they still look like they shoot high enough up that they would have been deemed too risky for use in that place. And the Promo video posted above makes it obvious they used these regularly.

Yes, it's a wonder they hadn't caused a fire before this.