Swiss police have identified a further 16 victims who died after a fire swept through a New Year's party at a bar in a popular ski resort.
A 14-year-old Swiss girl is among those who now been identified, with the majority of those identified on Sunday being under 18.
Those identified by police included 10 Swiss people, as well as foreign nationals from Italy, Romania, Turkey and France.
Authorities have opened an investigation into two managers of the bar in Crans-Montana where the deadly blaze broke out.
The two are managers are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement, days after the deadly blaze at Le Constellation.
Sparkler candles on champagne bottles have been identified as the likely cause of the incident that also injured 119.
The families of the 40 killed in the New Year's Eve fire have faced an agonising wait for information, with several saying they have been given no details at all in the days since.
Key Points
- Swiss prosecutors place bar managers under investigation after deadly blaze
- 16 more victims identified by police – including 14-year-old Swiss girl
- Masked singer act pulled due to ‘potential insensitivities’ after Swiss bar fire
- Recap: Authorities open criminal investigation into Swiss ski bar after fire killed 40
- Who are the French couple under criminal investigation for the fire?
Pictured: Tributes paid to victims of blaze
11:03 , Athena Stavrou
Witnesses recall struggle to find emergency exits
10:29 , Athena StavrouWitnesses have said it was not clear whether there were other emergency exits during the fire.
People who were in the club have described a single stairwell leading from the basement to the enclosed terrace, with a small door at the end, where desperate people trying to escape from both floors became trapped.
Laetitia Place, 17, said she had just entered the basement area expecting to meet friends when the fire exploded and raced across the ceiling.
"I saw a friend of mine, and then we saw the fire, and we went straight back up," she told Reuters.
"The first stairs are pretty easy to get through since they're wide," she said.
"But after that, there's the small door where everyone was pushing, and so we all fell. We were piled on top of each other; some people were burning, and some were dead next to us."
Witness to Swiss blaze 'shocked for life' after seeing victims burning
09:35 , Athena StavrouSwiss police identify 16 more bodies after New Year's Eve bar fire
09:11 , Athena StavrouSwiss police have identified a further 16 victims who died after a fire swept through a New Year's party at a bar in a popular ski resort.
A 14-year-old Swiss girl is among those who now been identified, with the majority of those identified on Sunday being under 18.
Those identified by police included 10 Swiss people, as well as foreign nationals from Italy, Romania, Turkey and France.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/masked-singer-uk-red-panda-swiss-fire-b2894101.html
09:02 , Athena Stavrou
Masked Singer act pulled due to ‘insensitivities’ after Switzerland bar fire
Officials name deceased victim
08:30 , Namita SinghOn Friday, officials had only identified one of the dead, a teenage Italian international golfer, Emanuele Galeppini.
According to two people familiar with the investigation, some of the victims may be under 16.
Local residents said the bar was popular with young people and the Swiss government said many of the dead were likely youths. Beer and wine can be drunk from age 16 in Switzerland.
Swiss authorities have identified eight Swiss nationals among those killed. While the names of the victims have not been released, they were all aged between 16 to 24 years.
Swiss justice minister apologises for tragedy
08:00 , Namita SinghThe Swiss justice minister said he was “so sorry” for the tragedy that killed over 40 and injured 119 during a New Year’s Eve party.
“It was an enormous tragedy. We're all so sorry that this had to happen," Beat Jans told reporters, standing in front of the cordoned-off bar, Le Constellation.
Residents welcome criminal probe in fatal bar blaze
07:30 , Namita SinghResidents still grieving over the sudden loss of lives in Valais have welcomed the news of the criminal probe, saying it was important that authorities get to the bottom of the case.
"We need a moment to reflect," said one, Patricia Mazzoni, 55. "But afterwards, I'd like an independent investigation. An independent investigation to find out who failed here."
Witnesses reported seeing staff at Le Constellation carrying so-called fountain candles atop bottles of champagne, and questions have also arisen about a foam material used to soundproof the ceiling of the basement where revellers danced.
Beatrice Pilloud, chief prosecutor of Valais, said indications were that the fire started because the sparklers got too near to the ceiling.
"From there, a rapid, very rapid and widespread blaze ensued," she said on Friday afternoon.
Investigations will look at renovations made to the bar, the fire extinguishing systems and escape routes, as well as the number of people inside when the blaze began, prosecutors said.
Who are the French couple under criminal investigation for the fire?
07:00 , Namita SinghAt least two people who ran the Swiss bar that burst into flames during a New Year’s Eve party are under criminal investigation.
The investigation has been launched against a French couple who are widely named in the media as Jacques and Jessica Moretti.
They are being investigated for suspected manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, the Swiss prosecutors office in Valais said.
Officials have said the likely cause of the fire at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana was sparklers on bottles being carried too close to the ceiling.
Investigators are looking into whether the venue’s acoustic foam was “also the cause of the problem”, as well as the bar’s compliance with regulations, said Beatrice Pillous, the lead prosecutor in the canton of Valais.
Swiss prosecutors investigate pair who ran bar over deadly blaze
06:30 , Namita SinghTwo people who ran a Swiss bar that burst into flames during a New Year's Eve party, killing 40, are under criminal investigation on suspicion of offences including homicide by negligence, prosecutors said on Saturday.
Two days after the fire, in which 119 people suffered injuries including severe burns, officials were still trying to identify many of those killed and attention turned to how one of Switzerland's worst tragedies could have occurred.
The bar's two operators are suspected of offences including homicide by negligence, causing bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, prosecutors in Valais, the canton that is home to the bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana, said in a statement. They did not name the pair.
Masked singer act pulled due to ‘potential insensitivities’ after Swiss bar fire
06:00 , Namita SinghAn act has been pulled from Saturday's The Masked Singer episode due to "potential insensitivities" in the wake of the Swiss bar fire that killed 40 people.
It was the first instalment in the 2026 series of the singing competition, which involves celebrities performing in elaborate costumes.
Red Panda, one of several characters that contestants are disguised as, was removed from the episode.
An ITV spokesperson said: "In light of the tragic events in Switzerland, we took the decision to remove Red Panda's performance on The Masked Singer in tonight's programme owing to potential insensitivities within the theme and lyrics of the song.
"Viewers will get to see Red Panda perform in the coming weeks."
Recap: Authorities open criminal investigation into Swiss ski bar after fire killed 40
05:30 , Rebecca Whittaker- Two operators of a Swiss bar are under criminal investigation following a New Year's Eve fire that killed 40 people and injured 119.
- The blaze occurred at Le Constellation in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana, Valais, with prosecutors suspecting negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm, and arson by negligence.
- Indications suggest the fire started when sparklers, reportedly used with champagne bottles, came into contact with the bar's soundproofed ceiling, leading to a rapid and widespread inferno.
- Investigations will examine the bar's renovations, fire extinguishing systems, escape routes, and the number of people present, as authorities work to identify victims, many of whom are young people.
- One of the bar's owners stated that the establishment had undergone regular checks and complied with regulations, while residents call for an independent inquiry into the tragedy.
Watch: Swiss bar fire appears to have been started by sparkler candles on champagne bottles, authorities say
05:00 , Rebecca WhittakerOwner of bar says renovations carried out 'in line with regulations'
04:30 , Rebecca WhittakerThe owner of Le Constellation bar told Swiss and Italian media on Friday that all renovations to the establishment had been carried out “in accordance with regulations”.
Jacques Moretti said the establishment had been inspected three times over the past 10 years, in an interview with Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve.
Authorities interviewed the French couple who bought the bar at the Crans-Montana resort in 2015, according to the Valais company registry.
Attorney general Beatrice Pilloud said they had not been interviewed under caution, but added: “If there is a flight risk, it is possible for us to take the measures needed.”
Recap: Swiss prosecutors place bar managers under investigation after deadly blaze
04:00 , Rebecca WhittakerTwo managers of the Swiss bar where a a fire at a New Year's party left 40 people dead are under investigation, police have said.
Authorities confirmed they have opened the investigation on Saturday, days after the deadly blaze at Le Constellation in the popular ski resort of Crans-Montana.
The two are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement.
Teenage girl educated in Britain missing after Swiss ski resort fire
03:30 , Rebecca WhittakerA former pupil at a British school is among those missing after a fire at a Swiss ski resort killed 40 people and injured 119 others.
Charlotte Niddam, believed to be 15, previously attended Immanuel College in Hertfordshire, according to multiple reports.
In a statement published by several newspapers, the private Jewish school confirmed she was missing.
The school urged the community to come together and said it was “praying for a miracle”.
Pictures of the missing teenager were shared in a post on an Instagram account set up to help locate survivors.
According to the Crans-Montana resort website, she had been working as a babysitter in the area.
Former British schoolgirl missing after Swiss ski resort fire
Families of those missing after fatal Crans Montana fire speak out: ‘The body of my son is somewhere’
02:30 , Rebecca Whittaker
Families of those missing after fatal Crans Montana fire speak out
Watch: Witness to Swiss blaze 'shocked for life' after seeing victims burning
01:30 , Rebecca WhittakerWitnesses recall struggle to find emergency exits
00:30 , Rebecca WhittakerWitnesses have said it was not clear whether there were other emergency exits during the fire.
People who were in the club have described a single stairwell leading from the basement to the enclosed terrace, with a small door at the end, where desperate people trying to escape from both floors became trapped.
Laetitia Place, 17, said she had just entered the basement area expecting to meet friends when the fire exploded and raced across the ceiling.
"I saw a friend of mine, and then we saw the fire, and we went straight back up," she told Reuters.
"The first stairs are pretty easy to get through since they're wide," she said.
"But after that, there's the small door where everyone was pushing, and so we all fell. We were piled on top of each other; some people were burning, and some were dead next to us."
Swiss authorities open criminal investigation into ski bar after fire left 40 people dead
Saturday 3 January 2026 23:30 , Rebecca Whittaker
Criminal investigation opened into Swiss ski bar after 40 people killed in fire
'We thought it was a joke' moments later, there was a huge cloud of black smoke, witnesses recall
Saturday 3 January 2026 22:30 , Rebecca WhittakerWitnesses reported seeing a staff member, who was sitting on the shoulders of a colleague, carrying bottles with fizzing candle-style sparklers in the basement section shortly before the ceiling caught fire.
"We thought it was a joke, or that it wasn't necessarily serious," said Axel Clavier, a teenager who was in the basement with friends when the fire started.
Moments later, there was a huge cloud of black smoke, Clavier told the Swiss news agency Keystone. "We couldn't breathe anymore."
Julia, a 19-year-old from the Swiss city of Lausanne said it all happened in seconds.
"People just suddenly started running and walking on top of each other," she told Reuters. "There was an enormous crowd, and this really small entrance, and it was hard to escape."
She was on the ground floor and escaped with an injured foot. A friend, who was with her, got caught in the flames that tore through from the basement and ended up in hospital with severe burns, she said.
Swiss prosecutors place bar managers under investigation after deadly blaze: recap
Saturday 3 January 2026 21:20 , Athena StavrouTwo managers of the Swiss bar where a a fire at a New Year's party left 40 people dead are under investigation, police have said.
Authorities confirmed they have opened the investigation on Saturday, days after the deadly blaze at Le Constellation in the popular ski resort of Crans-Montana.
The two are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement.
Where are the victims from?
Saturday 3 January 2026 20:30 , Athena StavrouMany of those killed, injured or missing are believed to be foreign nationals.
The injured included 71 Swiss nationals, 14 French and 11 Italians, along with citizens of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland, according to Frederic Gisler, police commander of the Valais region.
The nationalities of 14 people are still unclear.
Watch: Witness to Swiss blaze 'shocked for life' after seeing victims burning
Saturday 3 January 2026 19:38 , Athena StavrouFull story: How New Year celebrations turned to tragedy as sparklers on bottles likely cause of blaze
Saturday 3 January 2026 19:05 , Athena Stavrou
How New Year celebrations at Swiss ski bar turned to tragedy as likely cause revealed
Doctor describe 'traumatic' scenes after fire
Saturday 3 January 2026 18:33 , Athena StavrouDoctors treating the victims of the fatal fire at a Swiss Alpine bar say the experience has left them traumatised.
"This place was very well known as somewhere to celebrate the new year," Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion that took in dozens of injured people, told AP on Friday.
"Also, seeing young people arrive – that's always traumatic."
"It was hard to live through for everyone. Also probably because everyone was asking themselves, 'Was my child, my cousin, someone from the region at this party?’”
Witnesses describe seeing servers arriving with burning sparklers before blaze engulfed the bar
Saturday 3 January 2026 18:02 , Athena StavrouClavier, a Parisian teenager, said he did not see the fire start, but he saw servers arrive with Champagne bottles topped with the burning sparklers in Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana.
Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders as she held a lit candle in a bottle.
The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling of the bar, they told the broadcaster.
One of the women described a crowd surge as people frantically tried to escape from the basement nightclub up a flight of stairs and through a narrow door.
Another witness speaking to BFMTV described people smashing windows to escape the blaze, some gravely injured, and panicked parents rushing to the scene in cars to see whether their children were trapped inside.
Pictured: Tributes paid to victims in Crans-Montana
Saturday 3 January 2026 17:29 , Athena Stavrou
Watch: Man swats at flames before Swiss ski resort fire turns deadly
Saturday 3 January 2026 16:41 , Athena StavrouWhat do investigators think caused the fire?
Saturday 3 January 2026 16:00 , Athena StavrouInvestigators said on Friday that they believe sparklers in Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.
Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar.
Officials said they would also look at other safety measures on the premises, including fire extinguishers and escape routes. The region's top prosecutor has warned of possible prosecutions if any criminal liability is found.
The Valais region's top security official, Stephane Ganzer, told SRF public radio Saturday that "such a huge accident with a fire in Switzerland means that something didn't work - maybe the material, maybe the organisation on the spot."
He added: "Something didn't work and someone made a mistake, I am sure of that."
Nicolas Feraud, who heads the Crans-Montana municipality, told RTS radio he was "convinced" checks on the bar had not been lax, the broadcaster reported.
DNA tests required to identify badly burned bodies
Saturday 3 January 2026 15:30 , Athena StavrouThe severity of the burns made it difficult to identify bodies, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples.
In some cases, wallets and any identification documents inside turned to ash in the flames.
Emanuele Galeppini, a promising teenage Italian golfer who competed internationally, was officially listed as missing.
His uncle Sebastiano Galeppini told Italian news agency ANSA that their family is awaiting the results of DNA tests, though the Italian Golf Federation on its website announced that he had died.
Swiss prosecutors place bar managers under investigation after deadly blaze
Saturday 3 January 2026 14:50 , Athena StavrouTwo managers of the Swiss bar where a a fire at a New Year's party left 40 people dead are under investigation, police have said.
Authorities confirmed they have opened the investigation on Saturday, days after the deadly blaze at Le Constellation in the popular ski resort of Crans-Montana.
The two are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement.
How a man saved 10 lives after his daughter reached club late
Saturday 3 January 2026 14:50 , Athena StavrouA man in Switzerland saved at least 10 people at the Swiss ski resort after receiving a frantic call from his daughter.
Paolo Campolo, 55, told Il Messaggero that his daughter Paolina was late for the New Year’s Eve countdown at the Le Constellation bar as she had dropped by his father’s place “to say hello”. The delay ultimately saved her life and that of her boyfriend.
Speaking from his bed at a hospital in Sion, he said that his daughter was supposed to meet her boyfriend, who was waiting for her outside the upscale venue when the fire brokeout.
At around 1.20am, Paolina called her father on seeing the flames.
“[Her boyfriend] was behind the door. He managed to get out right in front of her eyes. He saved himself by a matter of seconds, but now he is hospitalised in very serious condition in Basel with severe burns,” Paolo said.
“It was our fault she was late: She should have been at that club already at midnight. Today I can say it without exaggeration, that delay saved her life,” he said.
Paolo, having reached the spot with a fire extinguisher, found an exit to help those trapped inside.
“I forced my way in, and that's how I managed to save ten young people. There were many Italians there ... Through the glass, I could see feet and hands. Bodies on the ground,” he said.
Survivor escaped deadly Swiss resort bar fire 'in a frenzy' as it was engulfed by blaze
Saturday 3 January 2026 14:00 , Athena StavrouOwner of bar says renovations carried out 'in line with regulations'
Saturday 3 January 2026 13:19 , Athena StavrouThe owner of Le Constellation bar told Swiss and Italian media on Friday that all renovations to the establishment had been carried out “in accordance with regulations”.
Jacques Moretti said the establishment had been inspected three times over the past 10 years, in an interview with Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve.
Authorities interviewed the French couple who bought the bar at the Crans-Montana resort in 2015, according to the Valais company registry.
Attorney general Beatrice Pilloud said they had not been interviewed under caution, but added: “If there is a flight risk, it is possible for us to take the measures needed.”
Former British schoolgirl is among those missing: recap
Saturday 3 January 2026 12:22 , Athena StavrouA teenager who was a former pupil at a British school is among those missing.
Charlotte Niddam, believed to be 15, previously attended Immanuel College in Hertfordshire, according to multiple reports.
In a statement published by several newspapers, the private Jewish school confirmed she was missing.
The school urged the community to come together and said it was “praying for a miracle”.
According to the Crans-Montana resort website, she had been working as a babysitter in the area.
How New Year celebrations turned to tragedy
Saturday 3 January 2026 11:30 , Namita SinghAround 40 people - many of them young - have been killed after a fire ripped through a busy bar in a popular Swiss ski resort during New Year’s Eve celebrations, in what has been described as one of the country’s “worst tragedies”.
At least 119 others have been injured with the vast majority in a “serious” or “critical” condition as authorities said local hospitals have reached capacity in the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana.
Swiss authorities believe fountain candles on champagne bottles are the “likely” cause of the incident but investigations remain ongoing.
Report:
How New Year celebrations at Swiss ski bar turned to tragedy as likely cause revealed
