Flowers, candles and messages are left at a makeshift memorial near Le Constellation bar for the victims of the fire that ripped through the venue on New Year's Eve in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, January 6, 2026. FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP
Swiss authorities admitted Tuesday, January 6, that fire safety inspections had not been carried out for the past five years at a bar where 40 people died in a New Year blaze. The bar's owners, who are facing negligent manslaughter charges, meanwhile said they were "overwhelmed with grief" and would not seek to "evade" their responsibilities.
The inferno at Le Constellation in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana in Switzerland's southwestern Wallis region left 116 people wounded, of whom 83 are still in various hospitals. Most of those killed were teenagers. Prosecutors believe the fire started when people celebrating the New Year raised champagne bottles with sparklers attached, setting light to sound insulation foam on the ceiling in the bar's basement section.
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In Switzerland, grief and anger simmer, four days after deadly bar fire
