The death of at least 40 people in a New Year’s Eve fire in a Swiss ski resort has once again highlighted the dangers of igniting indoor fireworks in bars and nightclubs.
As emergency services work to identify everyone killed and injured in the blaze at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, officials revealed more details about what happened at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
“It would appear that the fire started from sparkler candles, otherwise known as flares, which were placed on top of champagne bottles,” local attorney general Beatrice Pilloud said.
“These flares were taken too close to the ceiling. This led to what is referred to as a flashover incident, where the fire spread very rapidly.”
Follow latest: Former pupil at UK school missing after blaze
Ms Pilloud said an investigation will look into whether a type of foam on the bar’s ceiling contributed to the spread of the fire.
Fires in nightclubs, which can often be cramped, dark spaces, have claimed lives around the world over the years – and fireworks are often to blame. Here are some recent examples.
December 2025: Nightclub fire in Goa, India
Last month 25 people were killed when a fire ripped through a nightclub in Goa, India.
The incident happened a venue in Arpora village, a party hub in North Goa.
Goa’s chief minister Pramod Sawant said the inferno broke out after electrical firecrackers were set off inside the club.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the deadly fire was “deeply saddening”.
Read more:
Everything we know about Swiss ski resort fire
Partygoer seen trying to tackle flames
March 2025: Deaths in blaze and stampede in North Macedonia
Earlier last year, 63 people were killed at the crowded Pulse club in Kocani, North Macedonia.
Most of the dead were young revellers and more than 200 were injured.
The fire was set off by a pyrotechnic flame that engulfed the roof of the club while local band DNK was performing.
Hundreds of people scrambled for the small venue’s single exit, causing a stampede.
January 2022: 17 killed in Cameroon blaze
A fire at Liv’s Nightclub Yaouba in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, set off explosions that killed 17 people.
The government suggested that fireworks set the roof alight and the fire then spread to areas where cooking gas was stored.
Workers at the club had initially said the fire was caused by a short circuit.
October 2015: The fire that brought down a prime minister
A fire during a rock concert at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest claimed 64 lives and left some 190 people injured.
Fireworks set insulation foam ablaze and there was a stampede towards the only exit, trapping many of the 400 people inside.
Tens of thousands of people subsequently took to the streets across Romania to express their anger at the government, which many regarded as corrupt.
Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his cabinet subsequently resigned.
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January 2013: More than 200 people killed in Brazil
A blaze at the Kiss nightclub in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria caused the deaths of more than 200 people.
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The fire started when the band playing in the crowded, windowless club lit a flare which in turn ignited flammable soundproofing foam on the ceiling.
Poisonous gases were released that quickly killed those attending a university party.
February 2003: Fireworks in US club lead to blaze that kills 100
A fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in the United States, killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others. Fireworks being used by the band set fire to flammable foam inside the club.
Technology correspondent
One apparently universal truth of fires is that people will try and leave the way they’ve come, even if other exits are available.
In 2003, a fire started at a nightclub in Rhode Island called The Station which – just as in Crans-Montana – spread to flammable material in the walls and ceilings.
One fact which emerged later: although there were four possible exits, most people fled for the door through which they had entered, causing a crush which increased the final death toll.
It’s not clear how much difference these insights would have made in the basement at Le Constellation. The fire spread very quickly.
But local officials have confirmed that although there was more than one exit, most people headed back the way they’d came.
Fire safety expert Steve Dudeney says the only solution is to have trained staff basically push people towards the exits. “You have to show people what to do,” he says.
