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SOME 15 TEENAGERS are among those who died in the New Year bar fire in Crans-Montana.
Four days after the blaze swept through Le Constellation bar in the Alpine ski resort town, everyone killed and injured has now been identified.
A total of 40 people were killed in the tragedy, and 116 were wounded. The average age of those killed was 19.
The youngest victims were a Swiss girl and a French boy, both 14.
The BBC reports that the dead include people from Switzerland, Italy, Romania, Turkey, Portugal, France, and Belgium, as well as a citizen of the UK, France and Israel.
A criminal investigation into the French couple who managed Le Constellation bar is under way.
Sky News reported that the joint British, Israeli and French national killed in the blaze was Charlotte Niddam (15). She was working as a babysitter at the resort.
The UK’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper described her death as a “devastating loss”.
Another teenager, Tristan Pidoux, was reported dead by a spokesperson for the family, Sky News said.
Italian 17-year-old Emanuele Galeppini, Italian 16-year-old Chiara Costanzo and Swiss 16-year-old Arthur Brodard have also been named.
A young boxer named Benjamin Johnson was also killed.
The Swiss Boxing Federation said in a post to Instagram that the 18 year old “rushed to his girlfriend’s aid” when the fire broke out, ultimately losing his own life.
The fire broke out at the resort bar around 1:30am local time.
Specific law in Valais states in Switzerland mean under 16s can be in bars after 10pm if they’re accompanied by their legal guardian or another adult authorised by their legal guardian.
Local authorities have commented on the youth of the victims, with the president of the Swiss Confederation, Guy Parmelin, saying many of those killed were “full of plans, hope and dreams.”
What was a moment of joy turned into a tragedy in Crans-Montana last night, felt across the country and beyond. The Federal Council has taken note of this with deep dismay. Its thoughts are with the victims, the injured and their families and it extends its deepest condolences.
— Guy Parmelin (@ParmelinG) January 1, 2026
The Italian victims include one 15-year-old teenager, four 16-year-olds and another 17-year-old, Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland Gian Lorenzo Coronado said.
Cornado said Italy would pursue legal recourse against the bar owners on behalf of the families.
Among those injured were 68 Swiss, 21 French, 10 Italians, four Serbs and two Poles, police said.
Nationals from Belgium, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of Congo and Luxembourg were also among those hurt in the tragedy.
And there were four injured people with dual nationality, given as French-Finnish, Swiss-Belgian, French-Italian, and Philippine-Italian.
The Wallis police said no further information would be given on the identities of those injured, “out of respect for the families”.
The most severely burned casualties have been airlifted to specialist burns centres in Switzerland and abroad.
The Swiss government said Sunday that 35 patients had been transferred to specialist clinics in neighbouring Germany, France and Italy, plus Belgium.
With reporting by AFP
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