Death toll from Crans-Montana bar fire rises to 41

A teenager injured in the fire that engulfed a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana during new year celebrations has died in hospital, taking the death toll from the blaze to 41.The Wallis canton’s public prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said in a brief statement on Sunday: “An 18-year-old Swiss national died at a hospital in Zurich on January 31. The death toll from the fire at Le Constellation bar on January 1 2026 has now risen to 41.”Pilloud said her office, which is investigating the tragedy, would release no further information at this stage.Those killed in the disaster were aged 14 to 39, and most were teenagers. Only four were aged over 24. Another 115 people were injured, most of whom remain in various hospitals.Among the dead were 23 Swiss nationals, including one French-Swiss dual national, and 18 foreigners. There were eight French nationals, including a French-British-Israeli girl; six Italian teenagers, including an Italian-Emirati dual national; and one Belgian, one Portuguese, one Romanian and one Turkish national.Public prosecutors believe the fire started when revellers raised champagne bottles with sparklers attached too close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling of the bar’s basement.Four people are under criminal investigation: the bar’s co-owners, the Crans-Montana municipality’s head of public safety and a former Crans-Montana fire safety officer.After the fire, seriously wounded patients were airlifted to various hospitals and specialist burns units throughout Switzerland and in four other European countries.Switzerland’s federal office for civil protection said on Friday that as of Monday 44 patients were being treated abroad – 18 in France, 12 in Italy, eight in Germany and six in Belgium.The Wallis health ministry said 37 patients were still in Swiss hospitals as of Monday.The picture is constantly changing, with patients moving between hospitals for different stages of their treatment, and some patients being readmitted. Some remain in intensive care.