Swiss Bar Fire Death Toll Rises to 41 as Teenager Dies Weeks After New Year’s Eve Blaze
The death toll from a devastating New Year’s Eve bar fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana has risen to 41 after a teenager died in hospital nearly a month after the incident.
An 18-year-old victim passed away on January 31 at a hospital in Zurich, according to Beatrice Pilloud, public prosecutor for the Wallis canton, which is investigating the tragedy. Pilloud said no further details would be released at this stage.
The latest death follows the deadly blaze that broke out in the early hours of New Year’s Day at Le Constellation bar, where revellers were celebrating the arrival of 2026. The fire is believed to have been sparked by sparklers attached to champagne bottles, which ignited soundproof foam lining the ceiling of the bar’s basement.
The inferno, which erupted around 1.30am, injured 116 people, many of them teenagers. The legal drinking age at the venue is 16, and numerous young people were among those trapped as flames spread rapidly through the crowded bar.
Victims of the disaster were aged between 14 and 39, with only four over the age of 24. Many survivors remain hospitalised with severe burns.
Switzerland’s Federal Office for Civil Protection said 44 patients are still receiving treatment abroad, including 18 in France, 12 in Italy, eight in Germany and six in Belgium. As of Monday, a further 37 patients were being treated in hospitals within Switzerland, according to the Wallis health ministry.
Investigators have acknowledged that Le Constellation bar had not undergone a safety inspection for five years prior to the fire. Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the bar’s owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, on suspicion of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing a fire through negligence.
Criminal proceedings have also been initiated against the municipality’s head of public safety and a former council fire safety inspector.
Among those previously confirmed dead was a former British schoolgirl, Charlotte Niddam, who had once attended Immanuel College in Hertfordshire and was celebrating New Year’s Eve at the resort when the fire broke out.
Earlier this month, survivors, relatives and mourners gathered in the nearby town of Martigny for a memorial service to honour those who lost their lives in the tragedy.
