Crans-Montana’s mayor said no official safety inspections were carried out at the Swiss bar where a New Year’s fire killed 40 people and injured 116, acknowledging systemic failures as the Alpine resort town prepares for a national day of mourning.
“Periodic inspections were not conducted between 2020 and 2025. We bitterly regret this,” Mayor Nicolas Feraud told reporters five days after the blaze tore through Le Constellation bar in the early hours of Jan. 1. “We are profoundly sorry. We did not have an indication that the checks had not been done.”
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The disclosure intensifies scrutiny of oversight at the popular late-night venue, where video from the tragedy showed young people desperately trying to escape, some smashing windows to get out as flames raced across the ceiling. One widely shared clip captured the low wooden ceiling — covered with soundproofing foam — catching fire and the blaze spreading quickly as some partygoers continued to dance.
Feraud said the soundproofing foam used at Le Constellation was considered acceptable at the time. Experts who reviewed footage of the inferno said the “highly flammable” material likely contributed to a flashover — a near-simultaneous ignition of everything in the confined space.
Authorities have now banned sparkler candles inside venues, the mayor said, after witnesses reported indoor pyrotechnics shortly before the fire erupted. Officials did not announce further immediate measures, but Feraud’s remarks underscored mounting questions about enforcement and the chain of responsibility for safety checks in one of Switzerland’s best-known ski resorts.
The 40 victims, aged 14 to 39, included 21 Swiss nationals; nine French nationals, among them one Franco-Swiss and one triple national of France, Israel and Britain; six Italians, including one Italian-Emirati; one Belgian woman; one Portuguese woman; one Romanian man; and one Turkish man. With Crans-Montana attracting visitors from across Europe and beyond during the holidays, many foreign nationals were also among the injured.
Authorities said the injured included 71 Swiss citizens, 14 French citizens — though France’s foreign ministry gave a tally of 16 over the weekend — 11 Italians, four Serbs, a Belgian, a Bosnian, one person from Luxembourg, a Polish citizen and a Portuguese citizen.
The fire broke out as New Year’s Eve revelers packed the bar after midnight on Jan. 1. Scenes from inside the venue showed chaotic attempts to flee as smoke and flames spread, with witnesses describing a rapid loss of visibility and intense heat. Officials have not publicly detailed a timeline of events inside Le Constellation, but the speed and severity of the blaze have become central to the investigation into what went wrong.
Switzerland has declared a national day of mourning for Friday, Jan. 9. Church bells across the country are due to ring at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. Irish time), and a moment of silence is planned. In Crans-Montana, where the winter season is in full swing, skiers formed a heart-shaped tribute in memory of the victims in recent days.
Feraud’s admission about lapsed inspections is likely to drive further scrutiny of municipal processes during the pandemic and its aftermath, when many European towns faced staffing shortages and administrative backlogs. The mayor did not specify why the periodic checks halted or who within the system was responsible for tracking them, saying only that the town “bitterly” regretted the failure.
As the community mourns and survivors recover, the focus remains on accounting for every step that preceded the New Year’s disaster in Crans-Montana — from the foam that lined the ceiling to the sparklers that lit the celebration, and the inspections that never came.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
