Swiss resort bar where 41 died in New Year fire to be transformed into youth space

People gather around a makeshift memorial to pay their respects by laying flowers, candles and messages near the Constellation bar, on January 4, 2026, in Crans-Montana in honour of the victims of the fire that ripped through the venue in the luxury Alpine ski resort on New Year's Eve

The Swiss ski resort bar where dozens of young people perished in a New Year fire will be repurposed as a youth venue, the top regional official said in a newspaper interview published Saturday.

A total of 41 people were killed in the tragedy at the Le Constellation bar in Switzerland's plush Crans-Montana resort town in the early hours of January 1 -- mostly teenagers -- while another 115 were injured.

"Concerning the future of Le Constellation, it will never be reopened as a bar," Christophe Darbellay, the president of Switzerland's southwestern Wallis region, where Crans-Montana is located, told the Le Temps daily in an interview.

"This space must be dedicated to young people."

The Le Constellation was crammed with young New Year revellers when the bar was engulfed in flames.

Prosecutors say champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to the ceiling in the bar's basement level, igniting the sound-insulation foam.

Seventeen of those killed were aged 16 or under.

Wallis was also working on "creating a physical memorial" for the victims of the tragedy, Darbellay said, adding that it would be "beautiful, peaceful, accessible and will pay a fitting tribute to those who died, were injured, as well as those who provided assistance or care to the victims".

In the interview, he also outlined a third "essential" element in honouring the victims, saying a commemoration ceremony would be held next January 1.