CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — A joyous New Year’s Eve party turned into heartbreak early Thursday when a devastating fire ripped through Le Constellation, a crowded bar in this Swiss Alpine resort town. Swiss authorities now say about 40 people have died and at least 115 more were injured, many with serious burns, after the blaze engulfed the venue shortly after 1:30 a.m. local time.
The evening was meant to be full of music, dancing and celebration. Instead, it became one of the worst civilian tragedies in modern Swiss history as flames spread rapidly through the packed basement club. Witnesses told rescuers that people were trapped on stairways and rushed to break windows to escape the inferno. Hospitals in the Valais region and beyond were quickly overwhelmed by the number of wounded, with intensive care units filling up within hours.
Amid the chaos, a frantic search began for 16-year-old Giovanni Tamburi, a boy from Bologna, Italy, who was in Crans-Montana with his father and friends. Giovanni’s mother, Carla Masiello, made a desperate plea from the scene: “Help me find my son, no one knows anything. We’re calling all the hospitals, but no one knows anything, especially since those arriving are in terrible condition.” She said Giovanni’s phone had died and that a friend last saw them running when the fire erupted.
Survivors spoke of horror turning into survival instinct. Gianni, a 19-year-old mechanical engineering student from Geneva, was nearby when he heard reports of the fire and rushed to help before firefighters arrived. “I could never imagine anything worse than that night,” he said. “People were lying on the ground, shirtless, disfigured, burned… it was unbearable.” His account highlights how fast the blaze consumed the crowd and how slow help felt in those first terrible moments.
Authorities say the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, and they have ruled out terrorism. Early evidence suggests the fire may have begun when sparkler-style candles on champagne bottles touched the wooden ceiling, igniting flammable materials that caused the flames to spread almost instantly through the crowded basement. Fire experts are also examining whether poor ventilation and narrow exits made escape more difficult.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin called the incident “one of the worst tragedies our country has ever known.” Emergency crews, including 42 ambulances and 13 helicopters, were dispatched to move the injured to regional hospitals, while a no-fly zone was imposed over the town. Crans-Montana, normally a place of winter sports and luxury tourism, has since been plunged into mourning as families wait for news of loved ones.
Local authorities have appealed for calm and for anyone with information about missing people to come forward. Investigation teams continue to comb the wreckage of Le Constellation, working to identify victims and piece together how a night of celebration became a heartbreaking disaster.
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