Dozens presumed dead, 100 injured in blaze at Swiss ski resort town

The New Year’s Eve fire occurred in a bar called Le Constellation in the Swiss town of Crans-Montana.Published On 1 Jan 2026Several dozen people are presumed dead and about 100 have been injured after a blaze ripped through a crowded bar in the luxury Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana.The fire started at about 1:30am (00:30 GMT) on Thursday morning in a bar called Le Constellation, as revellers rang in the new year, police spokesperson Gaetan Lathion said.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Fire at Indonesia retirement home kills 16 peoplelist 2 of 3Trump bombs Venezuelan land for first time: Is war imminent?list 3 of 3Suicide bomber kills at least one police officer in Syria’s Aleppoend of list“Several dozen people are presumed to have died,” Frederic Gisler, the police commander in the Valais Canton in southwestern Switzerland, told reporters at a media briefing hours after the tragedy.Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the fire’s cause but added that investigators have ruled out an attack.Police said they could not immediately be more precise about how many people had been killed in the blaze. However, the Italian foreign ministry said in a statement that Swiss ‍police believe about 40 people have died.Some of the ‍victims are from ⁠other countries, said Stephane Ganzer, head of security for the Valais Canton.Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims, officials said.“We are devastated,” Gisler said.“I can’t hide from you that we are all shaken by what happened overnight in Crans.”Earlier, Lathion said that more than 100 people were in the building when the blaze broke out.A medical source told national broadcaster RTS that hospitals in French-speaking Switzerland were overwhelmed with burn victims in the aftermath of the blaze.Most of those injured were in a serious condition, said regional councillor Mathias Renard.