Name: Swiss fire horror - claims fireworks set ceiling ablaze - around 40 dead and 115 injured | BBC News
Uploaded: 2026-01-02T14:01:02.000Z
Duration: 7 min 49 s
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Around 40 people have been killed and 115 have been injured,

most of them with severe burns after a fire in a bar in a Swiss ski resort in the early hours of this morning.

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Many of the victims are aged between 15 and 25.

Young people who were in the resort for New Year.

It's understood they are from a number of different countries.

France and Italy have both said they have citizens who are missing.

The fire broke out while people were celebrating in the popular resort of Kron, Montana, high in the Swiss Alps.

The alarm was raised at about 1:30 in the morning, local time, and

the flames spread rapidly through the bar called Le Constellation.

It's not yet known what caused it, though investigators have ruled out an attack.

Switzerland's president says it's one of the country's worst ever disasters.

Tonight, King Charles said he was greatly saddened that a New Year celebration had turned into a nightmarish tragedy.

Well, let's go to Kron, Montana now and our correspondent Sarah Rainsford, who is there for us. Sarah.

Well, as you might expect, is a very, very somber mood here tonight.

I'm standing just by a shrine to the victims of this fire, to all those killed and injured here.

It's just a few meters up the road from the bar itself, Le Constellacion, which is just behind me.

Here. That, of course, is the place that turned into scenes of absolute horror in the early hours of this morning.

A place where young people came to party, but where they now talk, this town,

all the conversations about escaping death and about seeing really, really terrible things.

And of course, we now know that at least 40 people lost their lives in that bar.

As the fire took hold at first, the music didn't stop.

The flames tore through the bar in moments.

Those who made it out then watched in horror.

They were young, out celebrating the New Year.

Now dozens are dead and dozens more critically injured.

Nathan escaped, but he has seen terrible things.

The only way out was through a window, but the windows were blocked.

So I grabbed a table and tried to smash it.

But finally, I managed to kick the glass.

It's true. I lost my shoes, I lost my coat.

Even Swiss officials say they're shaken by the scale of this tragedy.

Initially, there were reports of explosions,

but police are now sure this was an accident, not an Attack.

One theory is that the fire was sparked by flares like these,

shown here in a promotional video for the bar.

The investigation, the forensics work has only just begun, though.

A woman climbed onto another woman's shoulders with two bottles with birthday fireworks in

and she held them too high, close to the ceiling.

The Swiss president has visited, calling what's happened here unbearable.

Our thoughts are with the families who are in anguish.

Some still don't know whether their child has died.

Some are in hospital in difficult situations.

We will do everything we can to ensure that everything is done as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

But today, our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who've been affected by this tragedy.

Crom Montana is a high-end ski resort in high season.

Those they saved were taken to hospitals all over the country.

Now officials have called on others not to use the emergency services unless it's essential so they can cope.

The questions over how and why will come.

Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, Kron, Montana.

Well, tonight some of the injured, three Italians, have been flown by helicopter from Switzerland to a specialist burns unit in Milan.

Two of them are 16-year-old boys, the other is a woman in her 20s.

Doctors say all of them have burns covering 30% to 40% of their bodies and are heavily sedated.

The authorities say two other Italians were too critically ill to be flown out of Switzerland.

A vigil has been held tonight in the Swiss resort by the bar where the disaster happened.

The BBC's Sylvia Costello has been speaking to people there who told her harrowing accounts of what they saw.

I've been standing next to police cordons all day today

and so many people just walked up to them in complete disbelief, just trying to figure out what had happened.

Confused of what had been the tragedy that took place in this mountain resort last night.

Tonight, it's a very different atmosphere.

Everyone has come here deliberately to pay their respects.

They've left flowers, they left candles and they've left them as close as they could possibly get to Le Constellacion.

There's a real sense of community here tonight.

And people have been hugging and really sharing their stories.

I gave them water, I gave them my clothes.

They couldn't drink or answer their phones.

I saw a friend of mine and then we saw the fire and we went straight back up and I grabbed my friend's arm.

But then I climbed the stairs and I let go.

And here tonight, I've spoken to people who are from Trans Montana and they say, look, of course we know people who died in the fire.

We know people who got injured in the fire because this is a mountain resort of 10,000 people.

You know, millions of tourists come and go, but, you know, we know this area and we know the people who died here.

And Sarah, it really is impossible to imagine what the victims families must be going through.

Some of them still have not been identified.

And so many of the victims are just so young.

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Swiss fire horror - claims fireworks set ceiling ablaze - around 40 dead and 115 injured | BBC News

grab

panic

severe

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