Swiss bar fire: No safety inspections since 2019, mayor admits

No safety inspections had been carried out since 2019 at the Swiss bar where a deadly fire broke out on New Year’s Day, killing 40 people and injuring 116 others, the mayor of the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana said.

Speaking at a press conference five days after the disaster at the Le Constellation bar, Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud acknowledged that mandatory checks had not taken place for several years.

“Periodic inspections were not conducted between 2020 and 2025. We bitterly regret this,” he said. “We are profoundly sorry. We did not have an indication that the checks had not been done.”

The fire erupted in the early hours of January 1 as New Year celebrations were underway in the crowded bar. Prosecutors have said the blaze was likely triggered by sparkling candles that ignited the ceiling of the basement venue.

Video footage from the scene shows young people desperately trying to escape, with some breaking windows in an effort to get out. One video circulating on social media captured the moment when the low wooden ceiling, covered with soundproofing foam, caught fire and flames spread rapidly, while some partygoers initially continued dancing.

Mayor Feraud said the soundproofing foam used in the bar was considered acceptable at the time it was installed. He also announced that the use of sparkler candles has now been banned inside venues.

After reviewing images from the incident, experts suggested that the “highly flammable” foam may have caused a flashover, a phenomenon in which nearly everything in an enclosed space ignites almost simultaneously.

The 40 people who lost their lives, aged between 14 and 39, included 21 Swiss nationals; nine French nationals, among them one Franco-Swiss citizen and one person holding French, Israeli, and British nationality; six Italians, including one Italian-Emirati; one Belgian woman; one Portuguese woman; one Romanian man; and one Turkish man.

Crans-Montana is a popular destination for international tourists, and many foreign nationals were also among the injured. Those hurt in the fire include 71 Swiss nationals, 14 French — although the French foreign ministry reported a total of 16 at the weekend — 11 Italians, four Serbs, one Belgian, one Bosnian, one person from Luxembourg, as well as one Polish and one Portuguese national.

Switzerland has declared a national day of mourning for Friday, January 9. Church bells across the country are set to ring at 2 p.m. local time, and a moment of silence is also planned.

By Tamilla Hasanova