LONDON — “A number of” dozen individuals had been presumed killed and about 100 others had been injured early on New Yr’s Day, as a fireplace ripped by way of a preferred bar in a resort city within the Swiss Alps, police stated.
A blaze of “undetermined origin” broke out on the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana at about 1:30 a.m. native time, the Cantonal Police of Valais stated in a press release.
Rescuers and fire-fighters work on the web site of an explosion that ripped by way of a bar in Crans-Montana on Jan. 1, 2026.
Maxime Schmid/AFP through Getty Photos
Investigators had been engaged on Thursday to find out the reason for the hearth, officers stated throughout a morning press convention. The incident was not being investigated as an assault, they added.
“What ought to have been a second of pleasure became a tragedy in Crans-Montana final evening, a tragedy that impacts all of Switzerland and the world,” Man Parmelin, the minister who assumed the rotating Swiss presidency on Thursday, stated in German on social media. “The Federal Council has taken be aware of this tragedy with profound dismay.”
Rescuers are seen on the web site of an explosion that ripped by way of a bar in Crans-Montana in Switzerland on Jan. 1, 2026.
Maxime Schmid/AFP through Getty Photos
Officers described the emergency response as “main,” including that the realm close to the Alpine bar had been closed to the general public.
“A big contingent of police, firefighters, and rescue personnel instantly responded to the scene to help the quite a few victims,” police stated of their assertion.
A no-fly zone was put in place over Crans-Montana, police stated of their assertion. The resort city is standard with skiers and sits in Switzerland’s southern Sierre District within the Canton of Valais.
Law enforcement officials stroll on the web site of a hearth that ripped by way of a bar in Crans-Montana, within the canton of Valais, Switzerland, on Jan. 1, 2026.
Maxime Schmid/AFP through Getty Photos
Police haven’t launched the identities of those that had been killed within the blaze. Officers on Thursday stated it was doubtless, given the recognition of the realm with vacationers, that a number of the deceased had been vacationers who’d traveled to the Alpine city to ski and to have a good time New Yr’s Eve.
The French International Affairs Ministry stated in a press release that not less than two French nationals had been among the many injured. Each had been being handled in native hospitals, the ministry stated. French officers had been “in fixed contact with the Swiss authorities in case different nationals are affected,” the ministry added.
ABC Information’ Tom Soufi-Burridge contributed to this report.
