Swiss Bar, Where 40 Died In Fire During New Year’s Celebration, Was Not Inspected For Years: Report

Last Updated:January 07, 2026, 14:40 IST

Swiss authorities admitted that mandatory annual safety inspections were not conducted for many years at the bar that caught fire during New Year celebrations, killing 40 people.

People lay candles and flowers near the Le Constellation bar, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations (Photo: AP)

Local authorities in Switzerland failed to carry out mandatory annual safety inspections at a bar in the Swiss Alps that was gutted by a deadly fire during New Year’s celebrations, killing 40 people, the New York Times reported, citing admissions by local officials.

According to the report, officials in Crans-Montana, a popular ski resort town, acknowledged on Tuesday that required yearly safety inspections were not conducted between 2020 and 2025 at Le Constellation, the bar where the blaze broke out.

The fire left 40 people dead, many of them teenagers, and injured more than 100 others.

“We bitterly regret this," Nicolas Féraud, the mayor of Crans-Montana, said at a news conference, as quoted in the report.

He added that “the justice system will determine the extent to which this failure influenced the chain of events leading to the tragedy."

Local fire regulations require annual inspections for buildings open to the public or those deemed to present special risks.

However, Féraud said the last inspection of the bar took place in May, 2019.

At that time, inspectors flagged no major safety concerns, and minor issues, such as the installation of an “anti-panic handle" on a door, were addressed by the owners, he said.

Inspections had also been conducted in 2016 and 2018, according to the mayor.

“We never received any alerts," Féraud said, according to the report.

Reuters echoed the report and confirmed the venue had not undergone a mandatory annual inspection since 2019, underlining growing concerns about what safety measures were in place at the time of the fire.

The mayor’s office was also quoted as saying that the bar did not have a fire alarm system, as one was not required for a venue of that size under existing regulations.

Prosecutors believe the fire began when sparkling candles ignited the ceiling of the bar’s basement.

Witnesses told investigators they saw a staff member standing on a colleague’s shoulders while carrying bottles fitted with so-called fountain candles.

The basement ceiling was lined with foam soundproofing material that had been deemed acceptable during the bar’s last safety check in 2019.

Swiss law does not require authorities to verify such materials, but Féraud said the courts would have to decide whether this should have been done regardless.

Authorities said the bar had two exits, one upstairs and one downstairs, with each level designed to accommodate up to 100 people.

Féraud said he could not yet confirm whether the downstairs exit was operational at the time of the blaze, noting that this would be determined by the investigation.

Reuters reported that 21 of the victims were Swiss nationals, seven were French, six were Italian, and others included Romanian, Turkish, Belgian and Portuguese citizens.

The dead also included a Swiss-French dual national and a French-British-Israeli national.

Twenty-six of those killed were teenagers, with some as young as 14. The average age of the victims was 19.

Swiss prosecutors have placed the bar’s two French owners under criminal investigation on suspicion of homicide by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and fire by negligence.

They have not been formally charged and are not in custody. If convicted, they could face up to four-and-a-half years in prison, with the possibility of longer sentences if prosecutors establish that they knowingly ignored fire risks.

ALSO READ | Police Identify First Four Victims Of Swiss Alpine Bar Fire That Killed Over 40 People

News world Swiss Bar, Where 40 Died In Fire During New Year’s Celebration, Was Not Inspected For Years: Report

Read More