Half of the victims were minors Swiss kart driver (18) died in inferno

Four days after the fire inferno in the "Le Constellation" bar, all 40 victims have been identified and handed over to their relatives. Many of the victims were young, several were still minors - and the first confirmed details have now been released for some of them.

Investigations are continuing - but there is now a definitive certainty regarding the number of victims: all 40 people who died in the fire at the "Le Constellation" bar in Crans-Montana on New Year's Eve have been identified. This has been confirmed by the Valais cantonal police. The bodies have been handed over to their relatives.

In addition to the fatalities, at least 119 people were injured, several of them seriously.

The age structure makes the extent particularly clear: almost half of the victims were under the age of majority. According to the Valais cantonal police, 22 of the 40 people who died were from Switzerland, eight from France and six from Italy. Other fatalities come from Portugal, Belgium, Romania and Turkey.

According to the police, the Swiss victims include a 14-year-old girl, several 15 to 18-year-olds and young adults up to the age of 31. The ages of the French victims range from 14 to 39.

The Swiss kart driver Joaquim v. T. also died in the fire disaster in Crans-Montana, according to a statement from the Swiss Auto Sport Association. The 18-year-old was considered a promising talent in national karting.

He started his career in 2021 in Lyss in the Swiss Hutlers team and has since regularly competed in the Kappelen Trophy. He last drove in the X30 Challenge Switzerland of the Swiss Kart Championship in Wohlen in 2024, where he finished tenth in the final race. He stood out due to "his committed attitude and team spirit", the press release continues.

In addition to karting, Joaquim also played football and went on a team trip to Crans-Montana with his teammates over the festive period. They spent New Year's Eve together in the "Le Constellation" bar, where the devastating fire broke out on New Year's Eve.

"The Swiss Auto Sport Association extends its condolences not only to Joaquim's family, but to all those affected by this unbelievable tragedy on New Year's Eve. Our thoughts are with Joaquim's parents, his two older sisters, his friends and relatives," the press release concludes.

Caroline Rey (24) from Sierre VS also lost her life in the fire disaster in Crans-Montana. Her father Joël Rey, a local councillor in Sierre and responsible for safety issues, described the agonizing hours after New Year's Eve in a morning show on RTS on Monday.

He has three children, said Rey. Two of them had told him in advance where they would be spending the New Year. Caroline, on the other hand, had given him several options. At the time, he could not have imagined that she would end up celebrating in the "Le Constellation" bar.

On the morning of January 1st, the father tried to reach his children - also to reassure himself. But there was no answer. "Then there was silence," said Rey in an interview with RTS. It wasn't until hours later that he found out for sure: Caroline's twin sister informed him that a missing person's appeal with a photo of the 24-year-old had been posted on Instagram.

Laetitia Brodard-Sitre searched for her son Arthur for hours, then days. Now there is sad certainty: the 16-year-old died in the fire disaster in Crans-Montana.

"Our Arthur has now left to celebrate in paradise," says the mother in a video made available to the French news channel BFMTV. She had previously made several public appeals to the media for help in finding her son.

Arthur had spent New Year's Eve with friends in the bar in question. "They had planned everything and booked a table in advance," his mother told the broadcaster. However, no trace of the teenager was found after the fire.

Laetitia Brodard-Sitre had already described in an interview on Friday how she had been searching for her son for more than 30 hours. She contacted numerous hospitals - without success. "I don't know which hospital he is in. I don't know which district he is in. I don't know which canton or country he is in," she said at the time.

Giving up was out of the question for her. "I won't stop looking. I won't let go," the mother emphasized. Parallel to the work of the authorities, she relied on social networks to receive tips and spread pictures of her son.

At the same time, Brodard-Sitre defended herself against the criticism that young people should not have celebrated in a bar on New Year's Eve. "We are not irresponsible parents just because we let our 16-year-old children go out on New Year's Eve," she said. All the parents had known where their children were and the young people had been out with friends.

As the Swiss Boxing Federation announced on Instagram, 18-year-old boxer Benjamin Johnson from Lausanne was among the fatalities.

The young athlete was killed when he rushed to the aid of a friend in a burning pub. SwissBoxing paid tribute to him as a "promising athlete" who died "as a hero".

The 16-year-old golfer Emanuele Galeppini is among the victims of the fire disaster in Crans-Montana. The teenager died as a result of the fire that broke out in a bar in the Valais resort on New Year's Eve. In total, at least 40 people lost their lives and more than 100 others were injured.

Galeppini was originally from Genoa, but had been living with his family in Dubai in recent years. He had made a name for himself there as a young golfer and regularly took part in junior and amateur tournaments in the Middle East and Europe. His most recent successes included a tournament victory in an amateur competition in Dubai in the spring of 2025.

At the time of the disaster, the 16-year-old was in Switzerland with friends to celebrate the New Year. The fire broke out in the bar "Le Constellation" in the early hours of January 1. The exact circumstances are still being investigated.

The death of the teenager has also caused great shock in the international golf scene. The Italian Golf Federation paid tribute to Galeppini as a committed young sportsman who stood for fairness and passion. His family, friends and companions mourn the loss of a youngster who was predicted to have a promising sporting future.