On New Year’s Day in the early hours, a devastating fire broke out at the famous luxury ski resort of Crans-Montana in the Swiss Alps. The popular bar “Le Constellation” located in the town center caught fire and caused a massive explosion during a New Year’s Eve party.
According to information from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs citing Swiss police, this tragedy has resulted in around 40 deaths and approximately 100 people injured, with most of the injuries being severe.
The fire occurred around 1:30 am local time on January 1st. Several witnesses described to the French media outlet BFMTV that the bar was hosting a lively New Year’s celebration at the time.
Witnesses reported that a waiter was carrying champagne bottles with sparklers inside and there was even a waiter sitting on the shoulder of another colleague raising a bottle. Due to the height at which it was raised, the burning sparkler ignited the wooden ceiling directly.
Survivors recalled that after the ceiling caught fire, the entire underground bar was engulfed in flames within just 10 seconds. Due to the narrow emergency exits, there was a moment of panic and pushing at the scene.
Frédéric Gisler, the Chief of Police in Valais, mentioned at a press conference that the victims likely include citizens from multiple countries. Crans-Montana is an internationally renowned resort that attracts a large number of tourists from the UK, US, France, and Italy annually.
Swiss Federal President Guy Parmelin expressed deep shock on his first day in office, describing it as a “tragedy that has plunged the entire country into mourning,” postponing his scheduled New Year’s speech as a sign of respect.
Béatrice Pilloud, the Public Prosecutor of Valais, stated that preliminary investigations have ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack. Valais Council member Stephane Ganzer pointed out that the fire caused a flashover, leading to the instant combustion of indoor air at high temperatures, which is also the reason witnesses heard “explosions.”
Authorities in Crans-Montana, along with the neighboring towns of Lens and Icogne, had just issued strict fireworks bans on Tuesday (December 30) due to the extremely high fire risk caused by persistent drought. Currently, authorities have set up a no-fly zone in the affected area and have deployed 10 helicopters and 40 ambulances to transport the injured to specialized burn centers in Sion and Lausanne.