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An explosion at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana caused several deaths and injuries. The incident occurred at 01:30 local time (00:30 GMT) within the Constellation Bar, as confirmed by local police. Disturbing footage on social media shows a fire at the venue, which was hosting New Year's Eve festivities.

Crans-Montana, a renowned luxury ski destination in the Swiss Alps, is approximately two hours from Bern, the Swiss capital. Authorities are scrambling to assess the full impact of the explosion that shook the tight-knit community. A helpline has been established for families affected by the incident.

Reactions have been pouring in as emergency responders work to manage the situation. Experts are now trying to determine the cause of the explosion while ensuring the safety of residents and tourists. This tragic event has overshadowed the region's expected festive period.

As investigations continue, attention turns to the measures needed to prevent such incidents in the future. Authorities are expected to release more detailed findings in the coming days. The community remains on edge as it awaits further information about the cause and any potential threats, reported the BBC.

Key Takeaways

• An explosion in Crans-Montana has resulted in several fatalities and injuries.

• The incident took place at the Constellation Bar during New Year's Eve celebrations.

• A helpline has been set up for the families of those affected.

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from BBC 2026-01-01

 

 

 

Terrorists attack or accident?

Just now, dinsdale said:

Terrorists attack or accident?

Certainly not out of the question - but well 'outside' of the standard terrorism playbook.

Given the timing - I'd guess fireworks or pyrotechnics gone wrong.

8 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Certainly not out of the question - but well 'outside' of the standard terrorism playbook.

Given the timing - I'd guess fireworks or pyrotechnics gone wrong.

Bali bombing 2002 88 killed. Bars targeted in tourist area. Fireworks or pyrotechnics accident could also be the case. Let's see what the updates are.

100 dead? Switzerland?

Accidents and tragedies can strike anywhere. Prayers.

1 minute ago, Yagoda said:

100 dead? Switzerland?

Accidents and tragedies can strike anywhere. Prayers.

The numbers of dead are not out, Police is holding back the numbers. They speak from several dozend. However over 100 injured people.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

As investigations continue, attention turns to the measures needed to prevent such incidents in the future.

What nonsense is that? Measures to prevent unknown events?

3 hours ago, dinsdale said:

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Certainly not out of the question - but well 'outside' of the standard terrorism playbook.

Given the timing - I'd guess fireworks or pyrotechnics gone wrong.

Bali bombing 2002 88 killed. Bars targeted in tourist area. Fireworks or pyrotechnics accident could also be the case. Let's see what the updates are.

Valid point.... a lot of reports stating Swiss have said they did not believe the explosion had been caused by an "attack"....

I guess they are being wise and 'filling' that void to avoid the usual speculation and hate mongering.

RIP to all the victims - reports are of 'dozens' killed.

Very sad. RIP. Have to admit I am keeping an open mind as to source. Could be a gas leak (Does Switzerland use gas heating?), or fireworks, or whatever. Or an act of terror. Not sure why they would strike there.

how can such a blast be anything beside a bomb ?

21 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Valid point.... a lot of reports stating Swiss have said they did not believe the explosion had been caused by an "attack"....

I guess they are being wise and 'filling' that void to avoid the usual speculation and hate mongering.

RIP to all the victims - reports are of 'dozens' killed.

Yep. Seems like it was a fire. As for "hate mongering" when there's a report of an explosion in a bar in a popular tourist area I don't think wondering if it's a terrorist attack is somehow unreasonable or "hate mongering".

Dozens presumed dead and about 100 injured in fire at Swiss Alps bar during New Year’s celebration

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a bar in a Swiss Alps resort town during a New Year’s celebration, police said Thursday.

“Several tens of people” were killed at the bar, Le Constellation, Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said during a news conference.

Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families but “that will take time and for the time being it is premature to give you a more precise figure,” Gisler said, adding that the community is “devastated.”

Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Canton attorney general, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.

“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.

https://apnews.com/article/switzerland-crans-montana-bar-fire-ff049a656af75e65703c5febb908786c

20 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

As for "hate mongering" when there's a report of an explosion in a bar in a popular tourist area I don't think wondering if it's a terrorist attack is somehow unreasonable or "hate mongering".

Would you say presuming it to be a terrorist attack, despite all indications pointing to something else, is unreasonable or hate mongering?

20 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Would you say presuming it to be a terrorist attack, despite all indications pointing to something else, is unreasonable or hate mongering?

In my original post I said terrorists or accident. If the headline read "Dozens Killed In Swiss Ski Resort Fire" terrorism would not have sprung to mind.

A strange lack of information being released.

Just now, JonnyF said:

A strange lack of information being released.

Check the link in the OP, seems pretty up to date.

Adapted by ASEAN Now from BBC 2026-01-01

1 minute ago, Upnotover said:

Check the link in the OP, seems pretty up to date.

Adapted by ASEAN Now from BBC 2026-01-01

Up to date but no information.

What happened?

26 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

In my original post I said terrorists or accident. If the headline read "Dozens Killed In Swiss Ski Resort Fire" terrorism would not have sprung to mind.

Look at the post above yours i quoted.

BBC quotes a French couple at the bar:

They claim one of the waitresses had put "birthday candles" on top of some champagne bottles, one of which was then held up.

"In a matter of seconds, the entire ceiling was ablaze. Everything was made of wood," they say.

Even since the NY night bombings in Bkk at Victory Monument, near where I live, I wait till 12:05am to go into a club or bar.

Added: Not to mention a similar nightclub blaze on NY night at Thonglor or thereabouts.

Yahoo News

Dozens presumed dead and about 100 injured in fire at Swi...

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — A fire ripped through a bar’s New Year celebration in a Swiss Alpine resort less than two hours after midnight Thursday, with dozens of people feared dead and about 1

"Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that they were inside when they saw a barman carrying a barmaid on his shoulders. The barmaid was holding a lit candle in a bottle that set fire to the wooden ceiling. The flames quickly spread and collapsed the ceiling, they told the broadcaster."

31 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

56 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Would you say presuming it to be a terrorist attack, despite all indications pointing to something else, is unreasonable or hate mongering?

In my original post I said terrorists or accident. If the headline read "Dozens Killed In Swiss Ski Resort Fire" terrorism would not have sprung to mind.

My comment about “hate-mongering” was not directed at you personally. The point I was trying to make is that whenever an incident occurs and IF authorities are slow to release information, any resulting information vacuum is rarely left empty.

In the current social and political climate - where fear, suspicion, and outrage are frequently amplified and even nurtured by social media - that vacuum is often filled by speculation, rumour, and assumption. Too often, this speculation hardens into hostility and, in some cases, outright hate-mongering.

At the same time, there is a historical context that cannot be ignored - particularly more recently. In sensitive or high-profile cases, information has been deliberately withheld or selectively released in the past. That history has contributed to a degree of public distrust towards official statements and timelines.

When the trust is already fragile and transparency is delayed, people tend to seek alternative explanations elsewhere. Unfortunately, those spaces are emotionally charged, and prone to framing events through ideological or prejudicial lenses. As a result, the absence of verified information does not merely invite conjecture - it actively creates fertile ground for the spread of misinformation and, in some instances, hate i.e. 'hate mongering'...

In this instance, the authorities have acted well by moving quickly to state that they do not believe the incident was terror-related. Given the current climate, it is reasonable to assume there was an awareness of how any delay or information vacuum might have been received by the public.

That said, had there been credible indications that the incident was terrorism-related, it is unlikely that such suspicions could have been released so early. Concerns around evidential accuracy, the integrity of an ongoing investigation, and the potential impact on public reaction would almost certainly have constrained what could responsibly be said at that stage.

In many ways, the boundary between what is disclosed and what remains unsaid has become a quiet measure of the public psyche - and the fact that this is a point of discussion here highlights this.

17 minutes ago, BangkokHank said:

Yahoo News

Dozens presumed dead and about 100 injured in fire at Swi...

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — A fire ripped through a bar’s New Year celebration in a Swiss Alpine resort less than two hours after midnight Thursday, with dozens of people feared dead and about 1

"Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV that they were inside when they saw a barman carrying a barmaid on his shoulders. The barmaid was holding a lit candle in a bottle that set fire to the wooden ceiling. The flames quickly spread and collapsed the ceiling, they told the broadcaster."

This brings back memories of the Santika nightclub fire in Ekkamai, Bangkok, where 67 people lost their lives and many more were permanently scarred after pyrotechnics ignited ceiling decorations, triggering a rapid and catastrophic fire.

In this case, it is difficult not to ask how something as seemingly innocuous as a single candle could have caused a fire that spread so quickly that people had little or no time to escape.

We (many / I) are often quick to criticise developing nations for poor safety standards or lax enforcement, yet incidents like this invite uncomfortable reflection. How could such a failure occur in a country like Switzerland? And, more broadly, tragedies such as Grenfell Tower remind us how readily those of us in Western societies judge elsewhere while overlooking the vulnerabilities and systemic failures closer to home.

10 hours ago, JonnyF said:

A strange lack of information being released.

Get a life stop imagining the worst just wait for the findings…..what a horrific thing to happen suck’s bigly!!

11 hours ago, JonnyF said:

A strange lack of information being released.

It is called investigation, but don’t let your bigoted and racist views get in the way of reality and facts, yet again.

What is known so far.

Around 40 people have died and 115 people are injured following a fire in a ski resort in south-west Switzerland, police say.

Authorities said several nationalities were likely involved in the New Year's Day fire, which happened at 01:30 local time (00:30 GMT) in a bar called Le Constellation in the resort of Crans-Montana.

It is being treated as a fire and there is "no question" of an attack, the region's chief prosecutor said.

Switzerland's President Guy Parmelin has called it "one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced".

What we know about the Switzerland ski resort fire

Several dozen people are presumed to have died in the fire at a New Year party in the resort of Crans-Montana.

There are a lots of reports that the ceiling was set on fire by a staff member holding a firework or sparkler while sat on someones shoulder, but this is yet to be confirmed by authorities.

Again this appears from the video above to be an entertainment venue, with fittings that are not suitable and not fire resistant, which allows the rapid fire development, early flashover conditions, all preventing people escaping the premises.

Explosion-like sounds during a fire are usually caused by rapid pressure release, sudden ignition of gases or structural failure rather than true high explosives; common sources include aerosol cans, gas cylinders and other pressurised containers bursting as heat builds, vapours igniting in enclosed spaces, catastrophic failure of heated liquid-gas containers (BLEVE), electrical arcing, moisture trapped in concrete and causing spalling, fireworks or pyrotechnics detonating when exposed to heat, all of which can produce loud bangs that sound like explosions and pose serious danger even without an actual detonation.

Can add it to an ever expanding list from around the world.

(A few examples)

1. The Station Nightclub fire (West Warwick, Rhode Island, USA — 2003)

Cause: Pyrotechnic sparks from a band’s indoor fireworks ignited flammable acoustic foam around the stage, leading to a rapid fire that killed ~100 people and injured ~230.

2. Colectiv nightclub fire (Bucharest, Romania — 2015)

Cause: Indoor pyrotechnics (sparkler fireworks) during a concert ignited acoustic foam, causing a fire that killed 64 and injured ~146.

3. Wuwang/King of the Dancers Club fire (Shenzhen, China — 2008)

Cause: Pyrotechnics during a floorshow ignited the ceiling; 43 people died and ~88 were injured.

4. Canecão Mineiro nightclub fire (Belo Horizonte, Brazil — 2001)

Cause: Indoor pyrotechnics set off on stage sparked a fire reaching ceiling materials; 7 died and ~197 were injured.

5. Nightclub fire (Quito, Ecuador — April 2008)

Cause: Reported pyrotechnics/fireworks accident inside club; ~15 people killed.

6. Club fire (Buenos Aires, Argentina — December 2004)

Cause: Flare/fireworks ignited ceiling materials at República Cromañón club; ~194 killed (often cited in pyrotechnics lists).

7. Nightclub fire (Bangkok, Thailand — January 2009)

Cause: Pyrotechnics/fireworks involved in New Year’s event setting ceiling or decorations alight; ~66 died and many injured.

8. Nightclub fire (Perm, Russia — December 2009)

Cause: Pyrotechnics related fire in club leading to ~154 deaths.

9. Nightclub fire (Brazil — January 2013)

Cause: Pyrotechnics-associated blazes in a nightclub with ~242 deaths.

10. Pulse nightclub fire (Kočani, North Macedonia — March 2025)

Cause: Pyrotechnic effects used during a concert apparently ignited flammable ceiling materials; at least ~59 killed and ~155 injured.

11. Edinburgh Hogmanay nightclub fire (Edinburgh, Scotland — January 2009)

Cause: Indoor pyrotechnics ignited suspended plastic mesh/netting; no fatalities but injuries occurred.

12. Qaraqosh wedding hall fire (Al-Hamdaniya, Iraq — September 2023)

Cause: Pyrotechnic flares/fireworks inside a packed wedding hall ignited the ceiling; ~107 killed and ~82 injured. (Though not a nightclub, this is an entertainment venue with severe pyrotechnics-related fire.)

The news sources I've read all say it was a fire. A very bad one, but I did not see any mention of a deadly blast or explosion.

What a truly horrific and terrifying event for the people involved, apparently there was only one set of stairs that led to an exit, and it was fairly narrow. I can't imagine why they would have been given a permit to host an event with so many people.

Ceiling sound proofing set on fire with what looks like fireworks? This is from X.

On 1/1/2026 at 8:21 AM, dinsdale said:

Terrorists attack or accident?

No. This article contains only half the story. Apparently a waitress lit some sparklers around midnight while she was on the shoulders of another waiter. This put the sparklers very close to the ceiling which caught fire, which then spread very quickly to the rest of the club. The fire then resulted in a couple of explosions, of which, as of yesterday, they’re not sure yet what caused them. They ruled out a terrorist attack very quickly.

21 hours ago, CHdiver said:

The numbers of dead are not out, Police is holding back the numbers. They speak from several dozend. However over 100 injured people.

40 dead and 115 injured, most of them severely. Wouldn’t be surprised, if the death toll rose quite a bit over the next days.

On 1/1/2026 at 8:24 AM, richard_smith237 said:

Certainly not out of the question - but well 'outside' of the standard terrorism playbook.

Given the timing - I'd guess fireworks or pyrotechnics gone wrong.

Apparently a waitress lit some sparklers around midnight while she was on the shoulders of another waiter. This put the sparklers very close to the ceiling which caught fire, which then spread very quickly to the rest of the club. The fire then resulted in a couple of explosions, of which, as of yesterday, they’re not sure yet what caused them. They ruled out a terrorist attack very quickly.