How a deadly Swiss bar tragedy unfolded
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains descriptions and videos that readers may find disturbing.
As young partygoers ring in the New Year at a packed bar in the Swiss Alps, the celebrations quickly turn into a nightmare. devastating fire It ripped through the basement, killing at least 40 people and injuring 119.
The fire at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana has been described by the Swiss president as one of the country’s “worst tragedies”. As families anxiously await news of their missing relatives and experts try to identify the victims, authorities are still trying to piece together how the fire started and why it spread so quickly.
Swiss authorities said on Friday that champagne sparklers were the likely cause of the fire, but an official investigation was ongoing. Emerging videos and eyewitness accounts reveal a deadly combination of dangers: fire-resistant ceiling panels and a crowded bar filled with young patrons pushing their way toward a narrow escape route.
A night of festivity
Located in the heart of Crans-Montana, a luxury sky resort in the French- and German-speaking canton of Valais, Le Constellation is a popular nightclub among young locals and visitors.
According to eyewitnesses, approximately 200 people were at the venue on New Year’s Eve, ready to celebrate 2026 with music, drinks and dancing.
Sparks turning into smoke
Footage shared widely online showed parade staff wearing motorcycle helmets perched on the shoulders of others, holding bottles of champagne along with sparklers amidst the packed crowd.
One clip shows at least six bottles being lifted into the air as flames and smoke pour from the ceiling.
A photo shared on social media shows what appears to be a waiter with champagne bottles and sparklers attached to them. Part of this image has been blurred by CNN to protect identities. – From social media
Another image shows the ceiling on fire. Part of this image has been blurred by CNN to protect identities. – From social media
The sparklers appear to have ignited what experts think was an acoustic panel in the ceiling; This material is designed to improve sound, but it can also be highly flammable.
Independent fire consultant Stephen MacKenzie described it as “plastic petrol” and added: “This is why we are seeing reports of many young people suffering first, second, third and sadly fourth degree burns.”
Swiss attorney general Beatrice Pilloud told reporters on Friday that investigators were looking into the installation of foam panels at the bar and whether it complied with regulations.
A rapidly spreading fire
It spread rapidly after the fire broke out.
In one of the videos, a young man tries to extinguish the fire by hitting it with a cloth, while others are recording on their phones or continuing to dance, seemingly unaware of the impending danger.
“When the ceiling caught fire, in about 10 seconds the entire nightclub was in flames,” an eyewitness said.
scary escape
As smoke filled the hall and the fire flared, partygoers ran toward a narrow staircase.
In the video confirmed by CNN, dozens of people are seen trapped at the exit, and one person jumps out of the window as thick red smoke surrounds the building.
MacKenzie explained the rapid spread of fire by a process called flashover, in which nearly everything in a room ignites at almost the same time.
“Burns increase at ceiling level,” causing the fire to “spread sideways,” he said. This process is like a “stone drop in the ocean” where the smoke billows sideways and begins to “preheat” everything in front of it.
When the fire door opened, it may have created a “stack effect” that accelerated the upward flow of smoke and flammable gases, MacKenzie said. “The smoke is actually burning; a ‘flare’,” he added.
On Friday afternoon, Swiss prosecutor Pilloud said all signs support this theory: “In the current situation, everything indicates that sparklers or flares placed in champagne bottles came too close to the ceiling, quickly causing a flash fire.”
Le Constellation was split into at least two levels, with stairs leading to the basement, as seen in a photo posted to TripAdvisor by bar management in August 2016. -From Le Constellation
Laetitia Place, a 17-year-old from Lausanne who attended the party, described her harrowing escape from the fire and said the narrow exit was crushed, making it difficult for others to pass.
“The first stairs are quite easy to climb because they are wide. But after that there is a small door that everyone pushes and we all fell, piled up on top of each other, some people were burning and some died next to us,” Genç told Reuters.
In video obtained by CNN, multiple people can be seen lying motionless outside as they try to help according to standards.
Local resident Samuel Rapp, 21, witnessed what happened next.
“There were people screaming, and then there were people lying on the ground, probably dead. They had jackets covering their faces – well, that’s what I saw, nothing else. Then I got videos of people trying to get out, but they were trampling each other, so it was hard to get out the exit. And there were people screaming ‘help me, please help us’.”
Emergency services are coming
Swiss emergency services responded within minutes of the fire and transported the injured to hospitals in Switzerland and abroad. About 50 patients have been or will be transferred to hospitals in other European countries for specialist treatment, officials told reporters on Friday.
The aftermath of a fire at a ski resort in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, is seen in this screenshot from a Jan. 1 police video. -Police Cantonale Valaisanne
Edmund Coquette told CNN affiliate RTL Germany that he saw “bodies in the streets” and young people with missing fingers and “their faces completely burned.”
Geneva University Hospital emergency care chief Dr. Robert Larribau told CNN that most patients were between 15 and 30 years old, with many having “extremely serious injuries” from the flash and possible retraction.
Flash typically causes severe burns, especially to the face, back, and upper extremities, often combined with critical inhalation injuries from radiant heat and superheated gases. Backdraft, an oxygen-induced explosion, can instantly cause fatal burns and toxic inhalation.
The bar’s two French owners have been questioned by police and an investigation has been launched into how the fire spread so quickly, Swiss authorities said on Friday.
CNN reached out to the bar’s owners through their business but has not yet received a response.
Meanwhile, as of Friday evening, many relatives of the victims and injured were still waiting for answers, and authorities were continuing the process of identifying the dead.
CNN’s Martin Goillandeau, Billy Stockwell, Henrik Petterson, Nic Robertson, Joseph Ataman and Duarte Mendonca contributed reporting.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at: CNN.com
