Mourners attend a Sunday mass dedicated to the victims of the fire at the Le Constellation bar and lounge, in Crans-Montana, on January 4, 2026. MAXIME SCHMID / AFP
Authorities investigating a New Year's blaze at a bar in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana have identified 24 of the 40 people killed, including 11 minors and six foreign nationals, police said Sunday, January 4, as its owners were probed for negligent manslaughter. A heavy pall of grief hung over the town as hundreds of people walked in silence to a chapel of rest near the scene following a memorial service for the victims of an inferno which also left 119 people injured – many badly burned – and left the local community distraught.
Switzerland has declared a national day of mourning for January 9, with all the church bells in the country poised to ring at 2:00 pm. A moment of silence is also planned. "The world's media are focused on our resort. We thank them for seeking the compassion which the families of the injured and deceased so desperately need," said Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion during a service. "Many of the victims were apprentices, high school students, and university students," said Pastor Gilles Cavin, representing the Reformed Church of Switzerland at the memorial mass.
