CloseSwiss authorities have opened an investigation into two managers of the bar where a fire at a New Year's party left 40 people dead.
The two are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement, days after the deadly blaze at Le Constellation in the popular ski resort of Crans-Montana.
Swiss authorities have identified the first eight victims from the devastating Le Constellation bar fire as Swiss nationals aged between 16 to 24 years.
Sparkler candles on champagne bottles have been identified as the likely cause of the incident that also injured 119.
The families of the 40 killed in the New Year's Eve fire have faced an agonising wait for information, with several saying they have been given no details at all in the days since.
“I'm living a nightmare, a nightmare. Either I find my son in the morgue, or I find him in critical condition. It's terrible,” Laetitia Brodard-Sitre told Le Temps after searching hospitals for her 16-year-old son, Arthur.
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Sparkler candles on champagne bottles revealed as likely cause of Swiss ski resort fire that killed 40
Italian golfer, 16, named as first victim of tragic Swiss ski resort bar fire
Watch: Swiss bar fire appears to have been started by sparkler candles on champagne bottles, authorities say
Rebecca Whittaker4 January 2026 05:00
Owner of bar says renovations carried out 'in line with regulations'
The owner of Le Constellation bar told Swiss and Italian media on Friday that all renovations to the establishment had been carried out “in accordance with regulations”.
Jacques Moretti said the establishment had been inspected three times over the past 10 years, in an interview with Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve.
Authorities interviewed the French couple who bought the bar at the Crans-Montana resort in 2015, according to the Valais company registry.
Attorney general Beatrice Pilloud said they had not been interviewed under caution, but added: “If there is a flight risk, it is possible for us to take the measures needed.”
Rebecca Whittaker4 January 2026 04:30
Recap: Swiss prosecutors place bar managers under investigation after deadly blaze
Two managers of the Swiss bar where a a fire at a New Year's party left 40 people dead are under investigation, police have said.
Authorities confirmed they have opened the investigation on Saturday, days after the deadly blaze at Le Constellation in the popular ski resort of Crans-Montana.
The two are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement.
Rebecca Whittaker4 January 2026 04:00
Teenage girl educated in Britain missing after Swiss ski resort fire
A former pupil at a British school is among those missing after a fire at a Swiss ski resort killed 40 people and injured 119 others.
Charlotte Niddam, believed to be 15, previously attended Immanuel College in Hertfordshire, according to multiple reports.
In a statement published by several newspapers, the private Jewish school confirmed she was missing.
The school urged the community to come together and said it was “praying for a miracle”.
Pictures of the missing teenager were shared in a post on an Instagram account set up to help locate survivors.
According to the Crans-Montana resort website, she had been working as a babysitter in the area.
Former British schoolgirl missing after Swiss ski resort fire
Charlotte Niddam, believed to be 15, previously attended Immanuel College in Hertfordshire, according to multiple reportsRebecca Whittaker4 January 2026 03:30
Families of those missing after fatal Crans Montana fire speak out: ‘The body of my son is somewhere’
Families of those missing after fatal Crans Montana fire speak out
The fire at Crans-Montana killed 40 people and injured 119 others, 113 of whom have been formally identifiedRebecca Whittaker4 January 2026 02:30
Watch: Witness to Swiss blaze 'shocked for life' after seeing victims burning
Rebecca Whittaker4 January 2026 01:30
Witnesses recall struggle to find emergency exits
Witnesses have said it was not clear whether there were other emergency exits during the fire.
People who were in the club have described a single stairwell leading from the basement to the enclosed terrace, with a small door at the end, where desperate people trying to escape from both floors became trapped.
Laetitia Place, 17, said she had just entered the basement area expecting to meet friends when the fire exploded and raced across the ceiling.
"I saw a friend of mine, and then we saw the fire, and we went straight back up," she told Reuters.
"The first stairs are pretty easy to get through since they're wide," she said.
"But after that, there's the small door where everyone was pushing, and so we all fell. We were piled on top of each other; some people were burning, and some were dead next to us."
Rebecca Whittaker4 January 2026 00:30
Swiss authorities open criminal investigation into ski bar after fire left 40 people dead
Criminal investigation opened into Swiss ski bar after 40 people killed in fire
The managers are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, Swiss police saidRebecca Whittaker3 January 2026 23:30
'We thought it was a joke' moments later, there was a huge cloud of black smoke, witnesses recall
Witnesses reported seeing a staff member, who was sitting on the shoulders of a colleague, carrying bottles with fizzing candle-style sparklers in the basement section shortly before the ceiling caught fire.
"We thought it was a joke, or that it wasn't necessarily serious," said Axel Clavier, a teenager who was in the basement with friends when the fire started.
Moments later, there was a huge cloud of black smoke, Clavier told the Swiss news agency Keystone. "We couldn't breathe anymore."
Julia, a 19-year-old from the Swiss city of Lausanne said it all happened in seconds.
"People just suddenly started running and walking on top of each other," she told Reuters. "There was an enormous crowd, and this really small entrance, and it was hard to escape."
She was on the ground floor and escaped with an injured foot. A friend, who was with her, got caught in the flames that tore through from the basement and ended up in hospital with severe burns, she said.
Rebecca Whittaker3 January 2026 22:30
Swiss prosecutors place bar managers under investigation after deadly blaze: recap
Two managers of the Swiss bar where a a fire at a New Year's party left 40 people dead are under investigation, police have said.
Authorities confirmed they have opened the investigation on Saturday, days after the deadly blaze at Le Constellation in the popular ski resort of Crans-Montana.
The two are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement.
