Eyewitnesses describe tragedy of Swiss ski resort fire

This story contains details that some readers may find upsetting.

“I thought my little brother was inside, so I came over and tried to break the window to help people get out, and then I went in.”

The 18-year-old man, who did not want to give his name, spoke to the BBC after the huge fire broke out at the New Year’s Eve party in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana.

Dozens of people are believed to have died in a fire at a bar called Le Constellation at around 01:30 local time (00:30 GMT) on Thursday, police said. About 100 people were also injured, mostly with serious burns.

An eyewitness told the BBC he was near the bar when he heard a large explosion followed by heavy smoke.

While the others tried to escape, he went inside and looked for his brother. He described a terrifying scene when he entered.

“I saw people being burned… I saw people being burned from head to toe, they no longer had clothes,” he said, adding: “It was very shocking.” His brother escaped unhurt.

“I went to this bar every day this week, and the day I didn’t go it burned down,” he said.

He said that firefighters and paramedics intervened immediately, but he tried to help as much as he could and offered water and clothes to the injured.

Just a few minutes ago, locals and tourists were celebrating the arrival of 2026 during one of the busiest holiday periods of the year for Alpine ski resorts.

Le Constellation is a large bar with space and a terrace for around 300 people spread over two floors, although it is not known how many people were in the bar at the time.

Two French women, Emma and Albane, told French media outlet BFMTV that they were inside when the fire started.

They said they believed it started when a waiter placed “birthday candles” on top of some champagne bottles.

“Within a few seconds, the entire ceiling was engulfed in flames. Everything was made of wood,” officials said, adding that the flames “started to rise very quickly.”

Emma and Albane said evacuation was “very difficult” because the escape route from the room they were in was “narrow” and the stairs leading outside were “even narrower”.

“We were very lucky,” they added, claiming there were “about 200 people trying to get out in very narrow steps within 30 seconds.”

Another teenager inside the pub told the BBC how he had to hide through a “wall of heat” before running away up the stairs.

Still, he couldn’t get out and tried to break the window with a table. However, he only managed to get out alive when he was able to break the glass using his foot.

The intensive care unit at the nearest hospital quickly filled up, and some patients were sent elsewhere for treatment, including Milan in neighboring Italy.

Among those who heard about the tragedy was Oleh Paska, who was visiting Crans-Montana with his wife and child.

He told the BBC they were celebrating the new year in their hotel room about 50 meters from the bar when they heard a series of explosions, which they initially thought were fireworks.

They heard someone crying outside but at first thought there was a fight.

But they realized something was wrong when emergency services started arriving with “different types of sirens” signaling the arrival of ambulances, police and firefighters.

Mr. Paska said the area, usually crowded with tourists, was unusually quiet on Thursday.

Following scenes of chaos and tragedy throughout the night, there was an atmosphere of shock in the town of Crans-Montana on Thursday.

Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland said it could take weeks to identify all the victims, while the country’s foreign minister said identification would be difficult due to severe burns.

For now, friends and relatives are anxiously awaiting news from their loved ones.

An Italian man said that one of his friends who was in the bar at the time was “burned all over”, while another was taken to Zurich by helicopter.

“Another friend of ours… we didn’t hear from him last night, he couldn’t be found,” he told Italian public broadcaster Rai News.

“My friends and I didn’t sleep last night, we barely ate,” she added.