Overview
- Authorities now put the toll at roughly 40 dead and about 100–115 injured, with many patients in critical condition.
- The blaze erupted around 1:30 a.m. during New Year’s celebrations at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana, where more than 100 people were inside.
- Prosecutors report an explosion after a fast‑spreading fire and have excluded a deliberate attack as investigators assess unconfirmed reports of indoor pyrotechnics despite a local fireworks ban.
- A large emergency operation deployed firefighters, ambulances and helicopters, enforced a security perimeter and no‑fly zone, and opened a family assistance center, as patients were sent to hospitals in Sion, Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich, with transfers to France, Italy and Germany.
- Identification is expected to take days because many victims suffered severe burns and include foreigners, and witness accounts describe a basement venue with a narrow stair exit that became a deadly bottleneck.