Several people have been killed, and others are injured, after an explosion in a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, police say.
The blast occurred at 01:30 local time (00:30 GMT) in the Constellation Bar, police said in a statement to the BBC.
Unverified footage circulating on social media showed a fire burning at a bar where New Year’s Eve celebrations had been taking place.
A helpline for families of those affected has been set up, police said.
Crans-Montana is a luxury ski resort town located in the heart of the Swiss Alps, approximately two hours from the Swiss capital of Bern.Swiss authorities believe “several dozen” people have died in the fire – and say they can’t be more specific.
Now, the Italian foreign ministry, citing Swiss police, say they believe around 40 people have died.
The ministry adds the victims could not be immediately identified because of the severity of their burns, Reuters reports
Do not add more pressure to hospitals, officials warn
The council leader finishes by saying how the community can most help is by taking extra care to avoid needing hospital treatment unnecessarily.
Be careful in the coming hours, Reynard reiterates.
Local intensive care unit now full
We have more detail on the emergency operation now – 10 helicopters, 40 ambulances and 150 responders were sent to the scene.
The majority of those injured are “significantly” injured with severe burns.
Most have been sent to Valais hospital – its intensive care unit is now full, Mathias Reynard, the region’s council leader says.
No question of any attack – prosecutor
Beatrice Pilloud, prosecutor-general, Valais canton, says an investigation is under way “to identify the circumstances which caused this dramatic situation to occur”.
She says “currently we are favouring a fire and at no time is there question of any attack”, adding out of respect for the families she cannot say more at this time.
She adds there is work ongoing to identify the victims and return bodies to families as quickly as possible.
“To do that there is significant work which needs to be carried out. And this significant work will require the closure of the district.”
Several nationalities involved
The region’s head of security says several different nationalities are involved in the incident, without giving further details.
Dozens presumed dead, police say
Police Commander of Valais Canton, Frédéric Gisler, says “several dozen” people are presumed dead, with more than 100 injured.
Le Constellation is a ‘real institution’ where people watch football
The bar where the fire happened is a real institution here. It’s been around for at least 40 years.
It’s a big bar and it’s not posh. But this is quite a posh ski resort, there’s quite a lot of luxury here – it was famous in the 1980s for hosting the World Cup skiing, and that’s coming back.
A lot of the bars are luxurious, but the Constellation was not like that. It’s a really big bar, it’s got an upstairs with TV screens where people go and watch football matches.
Downstairs it just had a big bar where I suppose yesterday people would have been dancing and drinking.
You go there for beers – it’s a kind of young bar. It would’ve been a mixture of young people, Swiss people, people coming up from the valleys to celebrate here in Crans-Montana.
There would have been a mixture of nationalities as well, you would think.
Bar could hold 300 people
The Constellation Bar could hold up to 300 people and had a small terrace – although we still have no precise numbers of how many were inside on New Year’s Eve.
It usually closes at 02:00 local time, which would have been 30 minutes after the fire began.
It is unclear if it was due to stay open later for the 2026 celebrations.
No-fly zone in place, police say in short update
We are now hearing a little more from police, who have issued a new statement:
- A major emergency response is still under way
- There are “numerous” police, fire and rescue services responding to the “many” individuals affected
- The area remains completely cordoned off
- A no-fly zone is in place over Crans-Montana
What we know – and don’t know – so far
This is a breaking story, with emergency services still responding to the fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana – here’s the latest:
What we know
- “Several people” have been killed, and others injured, after an explosion in a bar, Swiss police say
- The explosion happened in Crans-Montana in the Valais region, which is popular with tourists
- The blast occurred at 01:30 local time at the Constellation Bar, during New Year’s Eve celebrations
What we don’t know
- Exactly how many people have died – we expect an update from police shortly
- The nationalities of those involved
- What caused the explosion – local reports suggest pyrotechnics, though this is unconfirmed
- The exact number of people in the bar. Police tell local media it was more than 100
More than 100 people in bar, police tell local media
More than 100 people were in the bar at the time of the explosion, Swiss media outlet Blick is reporting, citing a police spokesperson.
As a reminder, police have told us that “several” people have been killed – but we don’t have a precise number.
Ambulances seen on street near bar
A picture on social media, seemingly taken on the street outside the bar, shows ambulances and at least one fire engine.
We’re working to verify more social media footage from the Swiss resort.
SUMMARY
What we learned from the Swiss news conference
In the past hour, we had a major update from Swiss authorities about the fire in the Crans-Montana bar:
- “Several dozen” people are presumed dead, with at least 100 injured
- The victims are of several different nationalities, and work to identify them is ongoing
- Most of the injured have “significant” injuries with severe burns
- Some 10 helicopters, 40 ambulances and 150 responders were sent to the scene
- The emergency operation will continue into the coming days
- Valais hospital’s intensive care unit is now full, with patients being sent elsewhere for specialist burns treatment
- Officials warned people to take extra care and not add unnecessary pressure to hospitals
- No cause of the fire was mentioned – but the prosecutor ruled out an attack
