Several dozen people are presumed to have died and more than 100 injured following a fire in a ski resort in southern Switzerland, officials have said.
Police 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.
A helpline has been set up for concerned families: +41 848 112 117
Here’s what we know so far.
How many people were killed?
At a news conference on Thursday morning police said “several dozen” people were presumed to have died in the fire, although it was too early to give a precise number.
The Italian foreign ministry – citing Swiss police – said it believed around 40 people had died.
Around 100 people have been injured, mostly with severe burns, Swiss officials said. Most have been taken to Valais hospital where the intensive care unit is now full, according to local authorities. A burns unit in Milan in neighbouring Italy has been made available.
Ten helicopters, 40 ambulances and 150 emergency workers were sent to the scene.
Work is ongoing to identify the victims and return bodies to families as quickly as possible, the region’s chief-prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said.
The Italian ambassador to Switzerland says it could take weeks to identify the dead. Earlier, Italy’s foreign minister said identification would be difficult due to the severe burns.
People from several countries are believed to be involved and French media has reported that at least two of the injured are French nationals.
French President Emmanuel Macron has offered “the full solidarity of France and our fraternal support” to Switzerland.
The UK embassy in Switzerland says it is monitoring the situation but it has not been approached for assistance.
Consular staff are on standby to support any British nationals affected, a Foreign Office statement said.
What caused the fire?
The cause is currently unknown but Ms Pilloud said it is currently being treated as a fire and “at no time is there a question of any attack”.
Asked about earlier reports of an explosion, regional security official Stéphane Ganzer said it “is not the detonation of an explosive device that causes the fire, it is the fire which, as it develops, causes an explosion and a general conflagration of the premises”.
Two French nationals who said they were in the bar at the time described seeing a waitress put a birthday candle on top of a champagne bottle.
“One of the candles was held too close to the ceiling, which caught fire. In a matter of seconds, the entire ceiling was ablaze. Everything was made of wood.” Emma and Albane told French media outlet BFMTV.
They described the evacuation as “very difficult” because the escape route was “narrow” and the stairs to get outside “even narrower”.
The regional police commander Frédéric Gisler said smoke was first seen emanating from a bar at around 01:30 local time, at which point emergency services were called.
The first police officers were quickly on the scene followed by a major deployment of rescue teams, Mr Gisler said.
What do we know about Le Constellation bar?
Le Constellation is a large bar in the the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana which has been around for many years.
Although the resort itself is quite upmarket, Le Constellation was not particularly posh, the BBC’s Silvia Costeloe reported from the resort.
Upstairs, there is an area with TV screens where people go to watch football matches. Downstairs is a big bar where people were likely drinking and dancing.
It could hold up to 300 people and had a small terrace, although it is unknown how many people were there at the time of the fire.
The Christmas and New Year holidays are one of the busiest times of the year for Alpine ski resorts, and it is likely the bar was full of Swiss people and tourists celebrating the start of 2026.
Police Cantonale Valaisanne