What we know about Swiss ski resort fires

A fire broke out at a ski resort in southwestern Switzerland, killing dozens of people and injuring more than 100, officials said.

Police said multiple nationalities may have been involved in the New Year’s Day fire that broke out at 1:30 a.m. (local time) at the Le Constellation bar in the Crans-Montana resort.

The region’s prosecutor general said: “It is being treated as a fire and there is no suspicion of an attack.”

A helpline has been set up for concerned families: +41 848 112 117

Here’s what we know so far:

Police said at a news conference Thursday morning that “dozens” of people were believed to have died in the fire, but it was too early to give an exact figure.

The Italian Foreign Ministry, citing Swiss police, said around 40 people were believed to have been killed.

Swiss officials said more than 100 people were injured, most with severe burns. They were taken to hospitals across Switzerland. A burn facility in neighboring Milan, Italy, also became available.

The director of Lausanne University Hospital told a Swiss newspaper that 22 patients had been transferred to his center so far, most of them aged 16 to 26.

“Work is underway to identify the victims and return their bodies to their families as quickly as possible,” regional prosecutor Beatrice Pilou said.

But Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland warned it could take weeks to identify the dead. Italy’s foreign minister earlier said identification would be difficult due to severe burns.

It is believed that people from several countries were involved. Italy’s Foreign Ministry told the BBC that 16 Italian nationals are currently missing and between 12 and 15 are receiving treatment in hospital.

French media reported that at least two of the injured were French nationals.

French President Emmanuel Macron offered Switzerland “the full solidarity of France and our fraternal support.”

The British embassy in Switzerland said it was monitoring the situation but had not requested assistance.

Consular staff are on standby to support affected British nationals, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The cause is currently unknown, but authorities said initial evidence does not suggest an attack.

Asked about previous reports of an explosion, local security official Stéphane Ganzer said: “It is not the detonation of the explosive device that causes the fire, but as the fire progresses it causes an explosion and causes a major fire throughout the building.”

Two Frenchmen who said they were at the bar at the time said they saw a waitress place a birthday candle on top of a bottle of champagne.

“One of the candles was too close to the ceiling and caught fire. Within seconds the whole ceiling was on fire. Everything was made of wood.” Emma and Albane spoke to French media outlet BFMTV.

They described evacuation as “very difficult” because the escape route was “narrow” and the stairs leading out were “even narrower.”

Local police commander Frédéric Gisler said smoke was first seen billowing from the bar around 1.30am local time, at which point emergency services were called.

First police officers were quickly dispatched to the scene, followed by a massive deployment of rescue teams, Mr Giesler said.

Le Constellation is a large bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

Although the resort itself is quite luxurious, Le Constellation is not particularly luxurious, the BBC’s Silvia Costeloe reports from the resort.

Upstairs there is an area with a TV screen where people can go to watch the football game. There was a large bar downstairs where people drank and danced.

It could accommodate up to 300 people and had a small terrace, but it is unknown how many people were there at the time of the fire.

The Christmas and New Year holidays are one of the busiest times of the year for the alpine ski resort, and bars are likely to be packed with Swiss citizens and tourists celebrating the start of 2026.