Dozens killed and around 100 injured in Swiss Alps bar fire during New Year celebrations – National

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most seriously, following a fire at a bar in a Swiss Alps resort during a New Year’s celebration, police said Thursday.

“Several dozen people” were killed at the bar, Valais cantonal police commander Frédéric Gisler told Constellation during a press conference.

Work is underway to identify the victims and notify their families but “it will take time and at this point it is premature to give you a more precise number,” Gisler said, adding that the community was “devastated.”

Béatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the canton of Valais, said it was too early to determine the causes of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to get inside the wreckage.

“At no time is there any question of any attack,” Pilloud said.

Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to rescue the victims, some of whom came from different countries, officials said.

Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that they were inside when they saw a bartender carrying a barmaid on his shoulders. The barmaid held a lit candle in a bottle which set the wooden ceiling on fire. The flames spread quickly and caused the ceiling to collapse, they told the TV station.

One of the women described a surge of crowds as people frantically tried to escape from a basement nightclub down a narrow staircase and through a narrow door.

Another witness interviewed by BFMTV described people breaking windows to escape the fire, some seriously injured and panicked parents rushing to the scene in cars to see if their children were trapped inside. The young man said he saw about 20 people rushing to get out of the smoke and flames and compared what he saw to a horror movie as he looked across the street.

Officials called the fire a “flashover,” a firefighting term describing how a fire can trigger the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently and cause what English-speaking firefighters would call a flashover or backdraft.

“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and gathering, but it turned into a nightmare,” declared Mathias Rénard, head of the regional government.

There were so many injuries that the regional hospital’s intensive care unit and operating room quickly reached capacity, Rénard said.

Current trend

• US removal of signs about black WWII soldiers in Netherlands sparks backlash

• Mickey Rourke faces eviction from his Los Angeles home over $60,000 in unpaid rent

In a region very popular with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to exercise caution in the coming days to avoid any accident which could require already overwhelmed medical resources.

With high-altitude ski slopes at around 3,000 meters above sea level in the heart of the Swiss Alps, Crans-Montana is one of the winter sports centers of the Swiss ski enthusiast Valais, which is also home to Zermatt, Verbier and other resorts nestled in the snow-capped peaks and pine forests that attract winter sports enthusiasts from around the world. The resort is one of the racing hotspots on the Alpine Skiing World Cup circuit and will host the next two-week world championships in February 2027.

In four weeks, the resort will welcome the best men and women’s downhill runners for their final events before heading to the Milan Cortina Olympic Games, which open on February 6.

Crans-Montana is also a mecca for international golf. The Crans-sur-Sierre club hosts the European Masters every August on a picturesque course offering breathtaking views of the mountains. Le Constellation bar is approximately 250 meters (273 yards) down the road from the golf club.

Crans-Montana is less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Sierre, Switzerland, where 28 people, including many children, were killed when a bus from Belgium crashed in a Swiss tunnel in 2012.

Thursday’s fire in Switzerland came 25 years after a fire in the Dutch fishing town of Volendam on New Year’s Eve that killed 14 people and injured more than 200 as they celebrated at a cafe.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin said in a message on social media that “the government’s thoughts are with the victims, the injured and their loved ones, to whom it extends its sincere condolences.”

Thursday was Parmelin’s first day in office as the seven members of the Swiss government take turns to hold the presidency for a year. Out of respect for the victims’ families, he delayed the traditional New Year’s speech to the nation which was to be broadcast Thursday afternoon, Swiss channels SRF and RTS reported.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press