What started as a joyous countdown to the New Year in the Swiss Alps turned into a terrible tragedy when a fire swept through the packed underground bar, Le Constellation, in Crans-Montana, claiming at least 40 lives and injuring another 119. The fire, which started just minutes into the new year, has been termed by Switzerland’s President as “one of the worst peacetime disasters, ever.”
Je suis profondément choqué et attristé par le drame survenu cette nuit à Crans-Montana, qui a coûté la vie à des dizaines de personnes et en a blessé beaucoup d’autres, lors des célébrations du Nouvel An. Mes pensées vont aux victimes, à leurs familles et à leurs proches.
— Alain Berset (@alain_berset) January 1, 2026
While the waiting families wait for news about their loved ones and the patients with severe burns continue to flow into the hospitals, the investigators are in a hurry to uncover the reason behind how the night out resulted in such a tragedy that it became one of the deadliest fires in Switzerland in the past few decades.
What happened inside Le Constellation on New Year’s Eve?
Le Constellation was packed to capacity with a number of young Swiss and foreign revellers marking the entry into 2026 in this upmarket resort town in Crans-Montana within the state of Valais. Approximately 200 people were also said to be inside dancing and partying to the rhythm filling the basement.
The bar, which has become renowned for staging exciting programmes during the New Year celebrations, was full to its brim capacity, with people forming queues alongside one another on the dance floor and stairs.
How did champagne sparklers ignite the fire?
According to Swiss authorities, it is believed that the likely cause of the fire was the use of champagne sparklers in the celebrations. This is because videos posted online showed people in the stadium were being preceded by staff members who were holding bottles of champagne with sparklers fixed onto them.
In some videos available, flames are noticed latching onto the ceiling moments before smoke escapes. Acoustic ceiling paneling—material used for sound absorption—was believed to be what the sparklers first ignited as it is rather flammable, according to some experts.
Fire consultant Stephen MacKenzie called it “plastic petrol” and said that “it burns with a ferocity and intensity,” and that “this is why some of those injured had severe burns to areas such as the face and torso.”
Why did the fire spread so quickly?
When fire engulfed the ceiling, a blaze erupted in the entire room in a matter of seconds. In a video footage available, a young man could be seen trying to extinguish the blaze using a cloth while other people remained busy dancing, unaware of the impending disaster looming before them.
In a testimony given by a witness, it takes 10 seconds before the nightclub is engulfed in fire.
Prosecutors think there was a fire which led to what is called flashover. This is when most of the fuel in the room suddenly catches fire because of the heat that has built up in the ceiling.
What is flashover and why is it so deadly?
Flashover happens when the heat and the smoke build up close to the ceiling, so the high heat radiates down to light the furniture, clothing, or even the air. MacKenzie described the incident as the ‘stone dropped in the water’ effect, so the heat and the smoke move quickly sideways.
In such conditions, opening the fire evacuation door could cause what is known as the “chimney effect,” which draws the flames and burning gas towards the evacuation route. In some instances, the smoke could turn to gas and become inflammable. According to Swiss chief prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud, all the evidence so far tends to confirm the theory that the massive blaze could quickly gain force as soon as the sparklers reached the ceiling.
How did confusion delay escape?
Several of the survivors reported that they initially thought that the cries of ‘fire’ were a prank or were part of the festivities, Reuters reported. Axel, one of the witnesses they interviewed, said the panic did not set in until thick black smoke filled the room.
“We couldn’t breathe anymore,” he explained, adding how he had broken a window upstairs in order to get out. This delay proved disastrous for many, as it took crucial minutes before party-goers understood how bad a situation was.
Why did the exit become a deadly bottleneck?
As the smoke thickened,scores of people made a dash for a narrow stairway that led out of the basement. Footage confirmed by CNN shows that people were crowded at an escape route, with some attempting to escape through windows as red smoke filled a building.
Laetitia Place was just 17 years old when she explained her fall in the crush at the small doorway at the back of the main stairs: “We were piled on top of each other. There were people on fire, and some were dead beside us.” The narrow way out, combined with the blocked emergency doors, has become the key focus of the investigation.
What did emergency responders find at the scene?
Emergency services arrived within minutes, but the devastation was already severe. Victims were shown in video lying motionless outside the bar while people gave first aid.
The view was chaotic, said Samuel Rapp, who witnessed the tragedy from his home and described people screaming in the street, their bodies charred black. Edmund Coquette said he saw several young people suffering facial burns, with some of them missing fingers. Over 50 patients were transferred to hospitals across Switzerland and other European countries for specialist burn treatment.
What injuries are doctors treating?
Most of the victims are aged between 15 and 30, according to doctors. Many of the patients were badly burned due to flash-over and possibly backdraft, according to Dr. Robert Larribau of Geneva University Hospital. Backdraft is when oxygen enters an area filled with fire, creating a explosion.
Such injuries include extensive burns on the upper body and the face, in addition to potentially lethal injuries from the inhalation of hot gases.
What questions are investigators now asking?
An investigation is underway to determine whether the ceiling materials are up to safety standards and whether the hall is adequately structured to allow evacuation. Both owners of the bar are French. They are cooperating with the police investigation. Charges are yet to be filed. Other safety factors are also under investigation.
How is Switzerland responding to the tragedy?
As the identification of victims goes on, families are agonized over theirs. Flags are lowered, and it has been assured that a full investigation would be conducted so that a calamity such as this would never again be witnessed. For now, a nation is in grief for lives lost in a night meant for celebration but soon became a nightmare due to safety standards and crowd control measures at nightlife spots everywhere in Europe.
Have similar deadly nightclub fires happened in Switzerland or elsewhere in Europe?
There have been other such tragedies occurring in Europe. Despite the fact that Switzerland has not experienced such disasters on a large scale, there have been fatalities resulting from similar disasters in Europe in the past. In 2015, for example, the fire at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, Romania, resulted in the death of 64 persons because the pyrotechnic device set fire to the soundproofing foam.
Likewise, the Gothenburg discotheque fire that happened in 1998 in Sweden also claimed 63 lives due to rapid fire propagation with a highly concentrated number of occupants in the area and without adequate exit points. In such incidents, the potential reasons identified include interior design being highly combustible, lack of exits, and overcrowding. These are the exact reasons that have caused the tragedy of Crans-Montana as well.
