Nick Johnson
Reporting from Crans-Montana

The scene outside Le Constellation this morning is one of two halves.

Beyond the police tape are red and white forensics tents with officers appearing to go in and out of the area around the bar. The investigation active and visible.

On the other side of the cordon, a quieter, reflective atmosphere. Dozens of candles flicker, lit at a vigil last night.

And a large stage has been set up, atop which lie hundreds of bunches of flowers alongside messages of love and hope.

While this is a very international resort, it does still feel like a close knit community.

Locals I’ve spoken to in the short time I’ve been here all say they know someone who knows someone who was inside the bar that night.

Image source, Reuters

Investigators are continuing to examine what may have caused the fire but, as we have reported, many of the witnesses have described the speed at which it spread.

The president of the UK Association of Fire Investigators, Richard Hagger, has told the BBC about the effect believed to have made the blaze so deadly.

Speaking to The World Tonight, Hagger said: "A flashover basically is a rapid development of fire within a compartment. You'll start with a fire, the flames and the thermal radiation will go to the ceiling level and mushroom out across.

"That thermal radiation then travels downwards on to other fuel packages, such as furniture, tables, raises the temperature to the point when they thermally decompose and produce flammable gas.

"And then that gas ignites, but it ignites at a fairly rapid rate. So the room, in effect, becomes a full room on fire within a matter of seconds."

Silvia Costeloe
Reporting from Crans-Montana

Image source, EPA

This post contains details some readers may find upsetting.

"I thought my little brother was inside so I came and tried to break the window to help people to exit, and after that I went in."

The 18-year-old man, who did not want to give his name, spoke to the BBC after the huge fire, which turned what was an evening of celebration to ring in the new year into a nightmare.

As others tried to escape, he went in, looking for his brother. Once inside, he described a scene of horror.

"I saw people burning... I found people burning from head to foot, no clothes anymore," he said.

"I went in this bar every day this week - the day I didn't go, it burned," he said.

His brother was unharmed.

Here's more from eyewitnesses who managed to escape the inferno.

Image source, Reuters

One of the biggest problems for officials is identifying the victims.

Swiss police are warning it could take days or even weeks to identify everyone who perished, leaving an agonising wait for relatives.

"We've tried to reach our friends. We took loads of photos and posted them on Instagram, Facebook, all possible social networks to try to find them," Eleonore, 17, tells AFP.

"But there's nothing. No response. Even the parents don't know," she adds.

Regional governor Mathias Reynard said last night: "We are painfully aware that identifying the bodies, as well as the injured, may still take a terribly long time for the families involved."

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Correspondent in Crans-Montana

Image source, Reuters

There are people here still searching for relatives who were in the Constellation Bar on New Year's Eve.

The fire then was so fierce - causing such severe burns – that identifying everyone is difficult. Several French and Italian citizens are among the missing, including 16-year-old Giovanni from Bologna, whose mother has made a desperate appeal for help to trace him. Two teenagers from Milan are also unaccounted for.

The bar was popular with a young crowd and many of the victims were in their teens. Some of those who survived have been giving terrifying accounts of how they fled the flames - smashing windows to escape.

Those injured are being treated in hospitals across Switzerland and abroad – the condition of many is described as critical.

There’s now a small shrine close to the scene, with flowers and candles – and notes to the dead – from a community in deep shock.

Image source, Getty Images

We're resuming live coverage of the deadly fire that broke out at the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana on New Year's Day.

If you're just joining us, here's what to know:

• Around 40 people have died and 115 were injured – many severely – after a huge blaze ripped through a bar called Le Constellation in Crans-Montana at 01:30 local time on 1 January
• Thirteen helicopters, 42 ambulances and 150 emergency responders were sent to the scene of the fire in the Valais region, which is popular with tourists
• Investigators are racing to identify the victims of the blaze amid warnings it could take days or even weeks to identify everyone who perished
• There were emotional scenes last night, as hundreds of people gathered to lay flowers and candles.
• Officials say "several hypotheses" exist for the cause of the fire, and refused to comment on witnesses' speculation that it began when "birthday candles" on top of champagne bottles set fire to the ceiling

• Remembering the event, eyewitnesses have described "scenes of chaos", while videos are emerging on social media of desperate attempts to escape the blaze

Stay with us as we bring you the latest from the ground.

Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Almost 24 hours ago, a huge fire engulfed Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

According to authorities, the club was packed with a "young festive population" seeing in the new year.

Around 40 people have died, and a further 115 have been injured, police say. You can read more on what we know - and don't know - here.

Now victims' families face an anxious wait for information, with the identities of most of those killed still yet to be established. Swiss President Guy Parmelin warns this will "take time".

We're pausing our live coverage now, you can read more in our news story here.

The French foreign ministry says eight of its citizens remain missing following Thursday morning's fire at Le Constellation bar.

Earlier the police said around 40 people were killed and 115 injured in the blaze.

In a statement, the ministry says it can't rule out that French nationals were among the dead.

Image source, Valais Cantonal Police handout via Getty Images

• Warning: This post contains distressing details and graphic descriptions

We're continuing to hear from eyewitnesses to last night's fire at Le Constellation bar, after a local politician says it was largely packed with a "young festive crowd".

Speaking to Italian public broadcaster Rai News, Anthony says he'd been queuing to get into the bar when he saw smoke.

Describing how he initially thought it was a special effect, he says: "If I had arrived five minutes later, maybe I wouldn't be here now."

Axel tells the Italian broadcaster he broke a window, before losing half his clothes in the escape. "We were trapped, we thought we would suffocate," he recalls.

Watching the chaos unfold, Louis remembers: "People came out burned, their clothes were burned, stuck to them. They were in a terrible state."

Dr Robert Larribau, head of the Emergency Médical Communication Centre at Geneva University Hospitals, says the patients they are treating there are suffering from severe, third degree burns.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight via a translator, he says some are also suffering from "internal" burns, after breathing in smoke.

He adds that the victims of the blaze are "very young... between 15 and 25 years old".

And the sheer number of casualties, the doctor says, has created difficulties for the local hospitals - in Zurich and Lausanne.

He thanks a European network that he says has helped send three patients to Milan, two people to Germany and others to France.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

• Warning: This post contains distressing details

I’ve spoken to Daniella from Milan, who has a holiday home on the street parallel to Le Constellation bar.

At 01:30 local time (00:30 GMT) she was walking home with her husband from a New Year’s Eve dinner when she started smelling smoke. As she neared the bar she saw a jacket completely burnt on the floor, and teams of police, firefighters and ambulances in the street.

“People were running in all directions, screaming and crying. I saw several people being carried out on stretchers.” Emergency workers were doing CPR, Daniella says.

"A young man came up to me and said he’d seen hell - things he would never forget. And then I just froze.”

She went back to her apartment and "from our windows we could hear the screams all night – it was terrible - young people screaming and crying until around 04:00."

“We’ve been coming to ski here for many many years," she says."It was like paradise and you never thought anything like this could happen."

A friend of a friend's teenage son is in hospital, she says, with 60 per cent burns on his body.

Image source, FC Metz

A French football club says one of its youth players is among the injured receiving treatment in hospital.

FC Metz says 19-year-old Tahirys Dos Santos has been airlifted to a hospital in Germany, where he is currently receiving treatment.

The club - based in north-east France - says Dos Santos was "severely burned" in the bar fire, and says updates on his condition will be provided "should there be any significant changes".

As night draws in at the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, here's a quick reminder of what we've learned about last night's fire - and the questions that remain - over the course of the day.

What we know:

• Around 40 people have been killed and 115 injured, according to officials
• The fire began around 01:30 local time while a "young, festive" group of people was inside the Le Constellation bar - videos show the blaze spreading quickly across the dimly-lit ceiling
• There are "several hypotheses" for the fire's cause - but an attack has been ruled out
• Bordering countries Italy and France - as well as the European Union - have offered their support, including the use of burns units for victims
• Eyewitnesses have described chaotic attempts at escape, with some forced to break glass doors with chairs and tables

What we don't know:

• The exact cause of the fire; Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud refused to confirm witness accounts that "birthday candles" or flares on top of a champagne bottle may have set fire to the ceiling
• The identities of the victims remains unclear - Swiss President Guy Parmelin says the process to name all those killed will "take time"
• Exactly how many people were in the bar at the time the fire started in the early hours
• The capacity of Le Constellation; though the local attorney general says this will be investigated
• The nationalities of those involved and whether any Britons were harmed in the fire, after King Charles says he is "greatly saddened" by the tragedy

Image source, Getty Images

King Charles says he and his wife Queen Camilla were "greatly saddened" to learn of the loss of life in Crans-Montana last night.

"It is utterly heartbreaking that a night of celebration for young people and families instead turned to such nightmarish tragedy," the King writes in a statement released on social media today.

King Charles shares his "admiration" for the work of the emergency services and conveys his sympathy for victims still in hospital, as well as those who have lost loved ones in the tragedy.

Tom Joyner
BBC World Service

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

A student says he and his friends had arrived at Le Constellation bar after finishing work nearby, hoping to join in the New Year’s celebrations. But as they parked and approached the door, they noticed something wasn’t right.

“People started running outside, smoking and burned,” the student, who asked not to be named, tells OS on the BBC World Service.

“For the first five minutes, I was just standing there. I didn't understand what was going on.”

Around them was unfolding a scene of chaos. Over the next two-and-a-half hours, they threw themselves into providing help.

The student rushed to a nearby restaurant, where the manager had ushered in some of the injured to offer them water until ambulances arrived.

“Everywhere hurts”, one of them told the student, he recalls.

“Some of them were just shouting. Just shouting. Nothing else. Some of them didn't say anything, they were just lying on the floor.”

The group of friends helped one badly burned woman into their car and rushed her to hospital in nearby Sion. Today, they await news of her condition.

“I feel still a bit shocked,” the student tells me. “I cannot believe what happened.”

Image source, Reuters

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU is working with Swiss authorities to get medical help to victims of last night's fire in south-west Switzerland.

Von der Leyen says this assistance is being provided through the EU's civil protection mechanism, which allows any country hit by a disaster - both in Europe and beyond - to request emergency assistance.

Meanwhile French President Emmanuel Macron says he's spoken with Swiss President Guy Parmelin to express solidarity.

He says France is welcoming the injured from Crans-Montana to its hospitals, while "diplomatic and consular teams are following the situation".

Three Italian nationals injured in the Le Constellation fire are being evacuated to Niguarda hospital's major burns unit in Milan, a local councillor says.

Guido Bertolaso tells journalists "a young woman, not yet in her 30s, and two young boys aged 16" will be arriving in Milan this evening to be treated.

Bertolaso says they have burns across "30-40% of their bodies" and they remain intubated but "the fact they could be moved is a good sign".

The Italian councillor adds that the Lombardy region is monitoring the status of two further Italian nationals currently hospitalised in Bern and Zurich for a potential evacuation in the coming days.

"However, they are in such critical conditions that Swiss doctors have advised against evacuating them at the moment," Bertolaso adds.

We’ve seen an apparent promotional video for Le Constellation bar on YouTube, published in May 2024.

The video, shared by the account @ConstellationCransMontana, shows women in motorcycle helmets walking through the bar while carrying sparklers in alcohol bottles above their heads.

The caption, written in French, reads: “The Constellation Crans-Montana welcomes you every day from 9am to 2am, 365 days a year without interruption.”

Earlier, two eyewitnesses to the deadly fire on New Year’s Eve told French media that waitresses had put "birthday candles" on top of some champagne bottles, one of which was then held up.

"In a matter of seconds, the entire ceiling was ablaze. Everything was made of wood," they said.

Officials haven’t yet confirmed how the fire started.

At a press conference earlier, Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud was asked about rumours that bottles of champagne carrying flares might have been the cause of the blaze. She said she cannot confirm anything while an investigation is ongoing.

As evening sets in at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, locals have been paying tribute to the dead and injured after last night's fire at Le Constellation bar.

A vigil was being held at Montana Station Church, while floral tributes are also being laid near the scene of the fire.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT/EPA/Shutterstock

• Warning: This post contains distressing details and graphic descriptions

Eighteen-year-old Alexis says he was outside Le Constellation bar when he first spotted the fire "through the glass doors".

"It was a real flame coming out," he tells Swiss broadcaster RTS. "It was coming out and... in fact, people were running through these flames."

"You could see the shadows. People were trying to break the glass with chairs in the bar."

Another witness, 21-year-old Alex, tells RTS he had just arrived outside the bar when the first fire victims started rushing out.

"I saw someone in their underwear, burned," Alex says. "That's when I realised there was definitely something wrong."

He recalls a "smell of gas, of melted plastic, a very unpleasant mixture. And then half a dozen burned people came out."

Alex says "it sent a chill down my spine to think that there were possibly still fifty people trapped inside".