Crans-Montana tragedy: Swiss press question lax regulations and insufficient safety measures   

Mourners gather around flowers and candles to commemorate the victims of the fire at the Le Constellation bar and lounge, in Crans-Montana on January 4, 2026. Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott

A lack of annual fire safety inspections, a DIY renovation job by owners and inflammable soundproofing panels have prompted accusations of negligence by the Swiss media.  

The fire in the Le Constellation bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve has claimed 40 lives and injured 119 people. With a national day of mourning announced for Friday for the victims, attention has now turned towards determining who is responsible.  

The Valais public prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal investigation against the bar’s proprietors, a French couple. They are accused of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligently causing a conflagration. 

While the authorities stress that the presumption of innocence applies until a final conviction is handed down, the Swiss press is already speculating on possible culprits for the loss of so many lives.  

Fire safety inspections 

Did the Le Constellation bar meet fire safety norms? In a press conference, Valais state councillor and cantonal head of security Stéphane Ganzer stated that the fire department had no information indicating that any deficiencies had been found during an inspection. It was assumed that fire safety inspections had been carried out. 

Fire safety inspections are supposed to take place annually. However, according to the online media Watson, the bar owners stated that they had only been inspected three times in 10 years. The municipality of Crans-Montana is the authority responsible for these fire inspections. 

The mayor of Crans-Montana, Nicolas Féraud, does not believe the municipality is at fault. “I am convinced that there has been no negligence,” he told Swiss public radio RTS. 

It would be awkward if the municipality was found guilty of laxism because Crans-Montana is also a plaintiff in the criminal proceedings against the bar owners.  

Renovations without authorisation 

When the owners took over the running of the Le Constellation bar in 2015 they decided to renovate the premises themselves. According to deleted images obtained by Blick from social media, the staircase leading from the basement bar to the ground floor was allegedly narrowed during the renovation. This could have potentially created a bottleneck hindering the exit of patrons from the premises during the fire.  

It is unclear whether the interior renovation of the bar in Crans-Montana was authorised, reports the NZZ am Sonntag. In the last 11 years, no application for renovation has been published in the official bulletin of the canton of Valais, where building permit applications generally have to be published, writes the newspaper. 

However, it is possible that no planning permission was required for the renovation, as the work was deemed insignificant. According to the newspaper, Valais regulations allow for this exception.  

Inflammable ceiling panels 

The Sunday press were particularly interested in the soundproofing materials used in the bar that caught fire when exposed to sparks from celebratory sparklers attached to champagne bottles. According to the NZZ am Sonntag, photos and videos from the bar suggest that these insulation panels were the cause of the disaster. The newspaper speculated that it could have been a cheap, easily flammable material. Two experts interviewed by the SonntagsZeitung said, on the basis of the photos, that the insulating material had not been laid properly.  

“We are investigating whether the material complied with the standards or not. We don’t know yet,” said Valais public prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud. 

>>In this short video, Laeticia Plass describes how she escaped the blaze in the Le Constellation bar.

Emergency exits 

The press also raised questions regarding emergency exits given that most people left through the main entrance of the bar when the fire started. According to online news portal 20 Minutes, an establishment hosting more than 100 people must have at least three exits and the maximum length of the evacuation route to an exit must not exceed 35 meters. It is unclear whether this was the case in the ill-fated bar.  

Cantonal head of security Ganzer stated on Friday that there was at least one other exit. “There isn’t just one door, even though it seems that most people left through the main entrance when the fire started,” he said. According to him, thick smoke could have reduced visibility resulting in only few people managing to find these exits. 

There is no indication yet whether the exits were poorly marked, locked, or blocked. Mayor Féraud told 20 Minutes that all documents, including the building plans, are with the Valais public prosecutor’s office. 

Edited by Marc Leutenegger