A JOYLESS DAWN

The fire that tore through the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana in the early hours of New Year's Day did more than claim lives; it shattered the illusion of safety in one of Europe's most carefully ordered countries.

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Switzerland is often imagined as serene, predictable and meticulously prepared, where disasters happen elsewhere and life unfolds with quiet precision.Yet inside that packed Alpine bar, less than two hours into 2026, all illusions vanished. Witnesses described flames spreading with terrifying speed, smoke choking the air, and panic taking hold as hundreds attempted to flee through a narrow stairway and an unforgivingly small exit. In the chaos, windows were broken, people stumbled, fell, and climbed over one another simply to survive. Authorities now speak of an “embrasement généralisé” — a flashover so sudden that combustible gases ignited violently — but clinical language cannot soften what happened. It was fear. It was suffocation. It was the brutal reminder that fire remains one of the most unforgiving forces known to humankind. Around forty people are gone. More than a hundred are injured, some critically. Families have lost children, parents, friends. Entire lives have been altered in minutes.