CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — The death toll from the New Year’s Day bar fire at the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana rose to 41 after an 18-year-old victim died from injuries in a Zurich hospital, regional prosecutors said Saturday.
“An 18-year-old Swiss national died at a hospital in Zurich on January 31,” Wallis canton’s public prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, said in a brief statement. “The death toll from the fire at Le Constellation bar on January 1, 2026 has now risen to 41.”
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The inferno, which tore through the basement of the Le Constellation bar during New Year celebrations, also left 115 people injured. Authorities say most of the wounded remain hospitalized in Switzerland and across Europe, with several still in intensive care. The fire has become one of the deadliest nightlife disasters in recent Swiss history.
Victims ranged in age from 14 to 39, with teenagers making up the majority, according to officials. Only four of those killed were older than 24. Among the dead are 23 Swiss nationals, including one person with dual French-Swiss nationality, and 18 foreign nationals. The foreign victims include eight French citizens—among them a French-British-Israeli girl—six Italian teenagers, including one who also held Emirati nationality, and one citizen each from Belgium, Portugal, Romania and Turkey.
Investigators believe the blaze began when revelers raised champagne bottles adorned with sparklers too close to sound-insulation foam on the ceiling of the packed basement, igniting highly flammable material. The public prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal investigation into four people: the bar’s co-owners, the current head of public safety for the Crans-Montana municipality and a former local fire safety officer.
In the chaotic hours after the fire, emergency crews airlifted the most seriously injured to specialist burns units across Switzerland and to hospitals in neighboring countries. Switzerland’s Federal Office for Civil Protection said Friday that, at its last count as of Monday, 44 patients were receiving treatment abroad—18 in France, 12 in Italy, eight in Germany and six in Belgium. The Wallis health ministry said 37 patients remained in Swiss hospitals as of Monday.
Officials cautioned that the picture is fluid, with patients moved between facilities for different treatment stages and some being readmitted as complications arise. Authorities have not released updates on the number of patients in intensive care but say several remain critically ill.
The fire has prompted scrutiny of nightclub and bar safety standards in tourist resorts, particularly around the use of pyrotechnic accessories and interior acoustic materials. Prosecutors have not announced charges and did not set a timetable for completing the inquiry. The municipality and the bar’s ownership have not publicly commented on the latest developments in the case.
The Jan. 1 disaster has cast a long shadow over the winter season in Crans-Montana, a resort known for its upscale hotels, luxury chalets and World Cup ski racing. Memorials for the victims have continued across the region and in the victims’ home countries as families and communities grapple with the scale of the loss.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
