🔥 “I was in there. For 10 minutes. And I saw hell open up.”

The account of a survivor of the Le Constellation tragedy

I walked into the bar just before midnight.

Loud music. Crowded. Laughter. Hugs.

Everyone was counting down.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Champagne exploded. Cheers.

Then—

I smelled burning plastic.

At first, I thought it was just an electrical fault.

I even laughed.

The stupidest mistake of my life.

A thin trail of smoke crept down the ceiling.

Lights flickered.

The music suddenly stopped.

Someone yelled:

“Smoke! There’s smoke!”

For a few seconds… nobody believed it.

Then black smoke poured down like a heavy blanket.

My eyes burned.

My lungs felt like they were on fire.

The temperature rose…
So fast I couldn’t understand what was happening.

We rushed toward the door.

But we couldn’t move.

Too many people.

I was pushed back.

One person fell right in front of me.

Then another.

The floor turned into a pile of bodies.

I started to suffocate.

Each breath felt like swallowing a burning ember.

I shouted for my friend—
I only heard:

Coughing.

Crying.

Screaming.

Pleading.

A trembling voice:

“I don’t want to die…”

To my left was a girl.

She trembled and said:

“I can’t see the exit…”

And disappeared into the smoke.

I don’t know… if she’s still alive.

I collapsed.

Not to pray—
But because I couldn’t stand anymore.

The air near the floor was a little easier to breathe.

I crawled.

Crawled over…

…motionless bodies.

Someone slammed against the glass door.

It didn’t break.

Again.

CRASH.

The glass shattered.
Cold air rushed in.

But at the same time—
Fire also rushed in.

The darkness turned into a sea of ​​blazing orange flames.

Screams rang out,
No longer sounding human.

People trampled over each other,
Climbing over me,
Pushing me between the door frame.

My clothes caught fire.

I felt my skin burning—
Not pain,
But the heat consuming my body.

Then—

I was outside.

I don’t remember how I got out.

I only remember lying on the snow
Barefoot
No shirt
And still burning.

Someone rolled me in the snow.
Car horns.
People shouting the names of loved ones.

I looked inside.

No more shouting.

Only… fire.

The next morning, I knew:

My friend didn’t make it.

My cousin did too.

I survived.

But the part of my soul trapped in that room—
Will never return. 👇👇

**************

Teen Speaks Out After Narrowly Escaping Deadly Ski Resort Fire: ‘We Were Piled on Top of Each Other’

Laetitia Place, 17, opened up about her harrowing escape after a fire broke out at Le Constellation bar at the Crans-Montana ski resort in Switzerland

First responders stand outside Le Constellation in Crans-Montana on Jan. 1, 2026.Credit : MAXIME SCHMID / AFP via Getty

NEED TO KNOW

A teenage survivor of the tragic fire at a Swiss ski resort said she saw “horrible things” as she fought to escape the blaze
Laetitia Place, 17, says patrons were “piled on top of each other” as they pushed towards narrow exits during the fire
Around 40 people died, and at least 115 have been injured after the devastating fire at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana

A teenage survivor of the bar fire that killed about 40 people at Switzerland’s Crans-Montana ski resort is recounting the horrors she saw as she fled the blaze.

Laetitia Place, 17, told Reuters that she narrowly escaped the fire at Le Constellation bar in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

“We all saw really horrible things that no one should ever have to see,” Place said of being caught in the crowd as hundreds rushed for narrow exits.

“There’s the small door where everyone was pushing, and so we all fell, we were piled on top of each other, some people were burning, and some were dead next to us,” she recounted. “I was so scared — scared for myself, scared for my friends, scared for everyone inside.”

Another survivor, Samuel Rapp, recalled escaping the bar amid “people lying on the ground, probably dead. They had jackets over their faces.”

“Then I received videos where people were trying to get out, but they were trampling over each other, so it was hard to get out through the exit,” he added. “And there were people shouting, saying, “Help me. Please help us.’ “

During a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 1, police commander Frédéric Gisler confirmed that “around 40 people died and at least 115 have been injured,” as a result of the blaze.

Two witnesses to the blaze told CNN affiliate BFMTV that they believed the fire could have been started by sparklers placed in champagne bottles, however, Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud said on Thursday that officials were not confirming anything at this time.

One theory authorities are investigating, Pilloud said, is something called a “flashover,” which is when hot gases rise to the ceiling and along the walls of a structure until all combustible items in the room reach their ignition point, triggering an explosion.

“Flashover is when you no longer have objects in the room on fire. The room is on fire,” Steve Kerber, the Vice President and Executive Director of the Fire Safety Research Institute, told CNN.

Police previously said that there was no suggestion that the incident was a terrorist attack and confirmed that it wasn’t an “explosive device” that had caused the fire.

Mathias Reynard, the region’s council leader, said it will take time to identify all the victims and those injured, especially because the bar was popular with foreign tourists during the holidays, and not all of the victims are Swiss citizens.

Switzerland’s president, Guy Parmelin, was in attendance at the press conference on Thursday, after sending his condolences in a post on X.

“What was a moment of joy turned into a tragedy in Crans-Montana last night, felt across the country and beyond,” Parmelin wrote. “The Federal Council has taken note of this with deep dismay. Its thoughts are with the victims, the injured and their families and it extends its deepest condolences.”