A New Year’s celebration in the Swiss Alps ended in horror after flames tore through a crowded bar just hours into 2026, with witnesses describing scenes more like a nightmare than a party.
The fire broke out less than two hours after midnight today (January 1) at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana – a luxury Alpine resort known globally for its ski slopes, golf tournaments and high-profile sporting events.
What had been a packed New Year gathering quickly transformed into one of Switzerland’s most devastating tragedies since the turn of the century.
Valais Canton police said ‘several tens of people’ are believed to have been killed, while around 100 others were injured, many of them seriously.
Police commander Frederic Gisler told a news conference that identifying victims and notifying families would take time, adding that it was still too early to give an exact death toll.
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the blaze, with Valais Canton attorney general Beatrice Pilloud noting that experts have not been able to safely enter the bar.
Rescuers and fire-fighters work at the site of a fire that ripped through the bar Le Constellation, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland (MAXIME SCHMID / AFP via Getty Images)
While bidding to reassure the public, she added: “At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack.”
Survivors have recalled terrifying moments inside the venue as smoke and flames spread rapidly.
Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old from Paris, told the Associated Press that there was ‘total chaos’ inside the bar, as one of his friends died, while ‘two or three were missing’.
Axel said he did not see how the fire started, but recalled seeing waitresses arriving with champagne bottles fitted with sparklers shortly beforehand.
As conditions worsened, he felt like he was suffocating and initially hid behind a table before running upstairs and attempting to break an acrylic glass window with a table.
The window eventually fell from its casing, allowing him to escape – at which point he fled without his jacket, shoes, phone or bank card.
“I am still alive and it’s just stuff,” he said, before adding: “I’m still in shock.”
Flowers are seen laid alongside candles near the bar as several dozen are believed dead – with around 100 others injured (MAXIME SCHMID / AFP via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that they saw a male bartender lifting a female colleague onto his shoulders as she held a lit candle in a bottle.
They noted that the flames spread quickly, causing the wooden ceiling to collapse.
One of the women described panic amongst the crowd as people desperately tried to escape from a basement nightclub up a narrow staircase and doorway.
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,” said Mathias Reynard, head of the regional government of the Valais Canton.
