Darkness draped Crans-Montana,
a ski resort in the Swiss Alps with a reputation for posh luxury.
Le Constellation, however, had few pretensions:
a cavernous venue with TV screens on the top floor to watch sport,
and a basement with low lighting, loud music and a dancefloor.
It attracted a young crowd, including under-18s, mainly from Switzerland and continental Europe,
and early on Thursday morning hundreds thronged the venue to see in 2026.
Many would not live to see the sunrise.
Investigators are still investigating the cause of the horror that began at 1.30am.
Two witnesses said a bartender carried a female member of staff on his shoulders who was holding a champagne bottle that contained a lit sparkler, or flare, near the wooden ceiling above the bar area.
An unverified photo posted on social media showed a white flame coming from a magnum of champagne.
Others speculated that charcoal for shisha pipes may have spilled.
Whatever the origin, flames began to lick across the ceiling of the basement bar.
Video posted on social media, also unverified, showed people, silhouetted by fire,
hastening through the venue while music continued to play.
Some patrons used sweaters to try to extinguish flames, a witness said.
The blaze turned into what Swiss officials called an #embrasement #généralisé, a term for a fire that releases combustible gases that can ignite violently, triggering what English-speaking firefighters call a #flashover or backdraft.
Le Constellation became an inferno.
“The whole ceiling was in flames and the fire spread really fast.
It happened in seconds,”
two survivors, identified as Emma and Albane, later told the French network BFMTV.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/01/inferno-horror-swiss-ski-resort-le-constellation-crans-montana?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

