Swiss investigators said on Friday (January 2, 2026) that they believe sparkling flares atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire at a ski resort when they came too close to a crowded bar’s ceiling.
Swiss face arduous task of identifying victims of deadly bar fire
Forty people were killed, and another 119 were injured in the blaze as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana while revelers were celebrating New Year's Eve, authorities said.
Among the crowd was Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old from Paris, who said he felt as if he was suffocating inside the Swiss Alpine bar where moments before he had been ringing in the new year with friends and dozens of other people.
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