Video: Moment When Fire Broke Out At Luxury Swiss Bar, Killing 47 People

At least 47 people were killed, and 112 others were injured in a massive fire that broke out at a luxury bar during New Year's Eve celebrations in the Swiss ski resort town of Crans-Montana, according to Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. While Swiss investigators probe the cause of the deadly blaze at the Le Constellation bar, a video and a photo, whose veracity has not been independently verified by NDTV, have gone viral, purportedly showing the moment the fire erupted. 

The photo purportedly shows the early moments when candles placed on the champagne bottles accidentally set fire to the soundproofing foam in the ceiling. 

A new picture shows the start of yesterday's fire at a club the Swiss ski resort Crans-Montana.

More than 40 young people killed and 115 wounded.

Soundproofing foam in the ceiling was set on fire by accident. pic.twitter.com/kQHywofdN2

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 1, 2026

The video shows the moments of panic that followed, with some patrons trying to douse the rapidly spreading blaze as others rushed to find an exit route. 

From Joy to Terror in Seconds: Moment Deadly Fire Begins to Tear Through Bar in Swiss Ski Resort

Footage shows flames rapidly spreading along the ceiling above the bar as young revellers welcomed in the New Year at the packed basement of Le Constellation bar in the luxury resort… https://t.co/1tIhGAnc85 pic.twitter.com/Ulb8IfNjvj

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) January 2, 2026

Eyewitness Account

The blaze broke out around 1:30 am Thursday amid a holiday celebration inside the Le Constellation bar. Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders as she held a lit candle in a bottle. 

"The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling," they told the broadcaster. 

"People frantically tried to escape from the basement nightclub up a narrow flight of stairs and through a narrow door, causing a crowd surge," one of the women said.

A young man at the scene said people smashed windows to escape the fire, some gravely injured, reported BFMTV. He said he saw about 20 people scrambling to get out of the smoke and flames, likening what happened to a horror movie.

Most injuries, many of them serious, occurred when the blaze swept through the crowded bar less than two hours after midnight on Thursday in southwestern Switzerland.

About The Fire

The Crans-Montana resort is best known as an international ski and golf venue. Overnight, its crowded Le Constellation bar morphed from a scene of revelry into the site of one of Switzerland's worst tragedies. While officials said Thursday it was too early to determine the fire's cause, investigators have already ruled out the possibility of an attack.

Work is underway to identify the dead and inform their families, according to Valais Canton police commander Frederic Gisler.

The Swiss officials called the blaze an "embrasement generalise", a French firefighting term describing how a blaze can trigger the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently and cause what English-speaking firefighters would call a flashover or a backdraft.

The injured suffered from serious burns and smoke inhalation. Some were flown to specialist hospitals across the country.

Authorities urged people to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require the already overwhelmed medical resources.

Thirteen of the wounded were Italian citizens, and another six Italians are unaccounted for, Italy's ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, told state-run RAI television. Three of the wounded were being transported from Switzerland to a Milan hospital, the Italian civil protection agency said.

France's foreign ministry said eight French people are missing and another nine are among the injured. Top-flight French soccer team FC Metz said one of its trainee players, 19-year-old Tahirys Dos Santos, was badly burnt and has been transferred by plane to Germany for treatment.

With high-altitude ski runs rising around 3,000 metres (nearly 9,850 feet) in the heart of the Valais region's snowy peaks and pine forests, Crans-Montana is one of the top venues on the World Cup circuit.

The resort will host the best men's and women's downhill racers, including Lindsey Vonn, for their final events before the Milan Cortina Olympics in February. The town's Crans-sur-Sierre golf club, down the street from the bar, stages the European Masters each August on a picturesque course.