Swiss police say around 40 people killed, 115 hurt in blaze at ski resort bar

By AFP 1 January 2026, 7:15 pm

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Flowers are laid near the site where an fire ripped through a crowded bar in the Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on January 1, 2026. (Maxime Schmid/AFP)

Some 40 people were killed when a fire ripped through a crowded bar in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana as young revellers rang in the new year, police say.

“We count around 40 people who have died and around 115 injured, most of them seriously,” Frederic Gisler, police commander in the Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland, tells reporters, as Swiss President Guy Parmelin described the fire as “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced.”