The Media Line: President Herzog Offers Assistance After 40 Reported Dead, 115 Injured in Swiss Alpine Resort Fire  

President Herzog Offers Assistance After 40 Reported Dead, 115 Injured in Swiss Alpine Resort Fire  

By The Media Line Staff  

A fire that tore through a crowded New Year’s celebration at a bar in the Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana shortly after midnight Thursday killed about 40 people and left at least 115 others injured, many of them seriously, authorities said.  

Emergency services were dispatched to Le Constellation bar less than two hours after the new year began, finding extensive damage and a large number of casualties. Officials said the exact death toll could not yet be confirmed, as identification efforts were still underway. Switzerland announced five days of national mourning following what authorities described as one of the country’s deadliest recent disasters.  

Valais canton police said forensic teams have not yet been able to fully enter the burned structure, delaying conclusions about how the blaze began. Prosecutors stressed there were no indications of an attack and said the investigation is focused solely on determining the circumstances of the fire. No arrests have been made, and officials said the number of people inside the venue at the time remains unclear, with the bar’s permitted capacity now part of the inquiry.  

Italian authorities said at least 13 Italian citizens were among the injured, while several others remained unaccounted for. Italy’s foreign minister was expected to travel to the area as consular teams worked with Swiss officials to locate missing nationals and assist families.  

Israeli President Isaac Herzog communicated condolences to Swiss President Guy Parmelin and offered assistance. Members of an Israeli emergency services organization are already en route to the disaster site.  

He told the Swiss president that Israel has both “experience and advanced capabilities” that it has developed to a high level “in the fields of locating and identifying victims of fires, as well as in the treatment of burn victims in fire-related incidents.”  

Parmelin thanked Herzog and added that the Swiss Foreign Ministry “has been instructed, if required, to remain in contact with the Embassy of Israel in Switzerland.”  

Several members of the Swiss Jewish community are among the injured, according to the Chabad Hasidic movement.  

There are no reports yet of Israeli casualties in the fire.