THE NEW YORK TIMES: The local police said that their preliminary toll was about 40 dead, with roughly 115 injured, in the early morning blaze at a bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana .
About 40 people were killed and more than 100 injured, many gravely, in a fire in a bar at a ski resort in the Swiss Alps during a New Year’s celebration on Thursday. The Swiss president said it was “one of the worst tragedies our country has ever experienced.”
The blaze broke out in the early morning hours at Le Constellation, a bar in Crans-Montana, in the canton of Valais. Officials said they were still investigating the cause of the fire and an explosion that followed, but ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack.
“We have no suspects,” said Beatrice Pilloud, the prosecutor general for the region. “An investigation has been launched — not against anyone, but to shed light on the circumstances surrounding this tragic fire.”
Many of the victims were young people who had gathered to celebrate the New Year. “This tragedy occurred in a place that is naturally associated with life and joy,” said President Guy Parmelin, who postponed a scheduled New Year’s address to travel to the scene.
The authorities said they were working to identify the dead and return their remains to their families. They were also interviewing witnesses and planned to analyze cellphones that were left at the scene, a prosecutor said. Live Updates » | Christopher F. Schuetze, Aurelien Breeden and John Yoon | Thursday, January 1, 2026
