🔥💔 “MUM, I’M SCARED.”
The final 4-word message from 17-year-old golf prodigy Emanuele Galeppini moments before the Swiss bar fire claimed his life — investigators say it could reveal the most chilling detail about how the inferno started… and it’s leaving experts stunned. 👀

In their words: Survivors and others talk about fatal Swiss Alpine bar fire

In the aftermath of a fire inside a Swiss Alpine bar that killed 40 people celebrating the new year, survivors, friends and family members, the region’s top authorities and even Pope Leo have spoken to the public in remarks in French, Italian, German and English, reflecting the tradition of Swiss multilingualism.

More than 100 people were injured in the blaze early Thursday as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, authorities said. It was one of the deadliest tragedies in Switzerland’s history.

Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.

A woman holding a stuffed animal, whose daughter is missing, gather with others near the sealed-off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year’s celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Here’s a look at what people said in the wake of the disaster:

— “I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard told reporters Friday in Crans-Montana as she searched for her son, 16-year-old Arthur. “I want to know where my child is and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”

— “We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could. We saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. “There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can’t imagine the pain I saw.”

— “It was hard to live through for everyone. Also, probably because everyone was asking themselves, ‘Was my child, my cousin, someone from the region at this party?’” Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion that took in dozens of injured people, told AP on Friday. “This place was very well known as somewhere to celebrate the new year,” Bonvin said. “Also, seeing young people arrive — that’s always traumatic.”

— “I have seen horror, and I don’t know what else would be worse than this,” Gianni Campolo, a Swiss 19-year-old who was in Crans-Montana on vacation and rushed to the bar to help first responders, told France’s TF1 television.

— “Despite the heavy smoke, I could see bodies pressed against the glass,” Gianni’s father, Paolo Campolo, told French news broadcaster BFM TV as he explained how he found an emergency exit behind the bar. With another volunteer, he managed to open the glass door. “That’s when several bodies fell. We immediately pulled them out, one after the other. I think we had to pull out about ten bodies in total,” he said.

—“The priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region’s attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference in Sion.

Pope Leo said in a telegram Friday to the bishop of Sion that he ” wishes to express his compassion and concern to the relatives of the victims. He prays that the Lord will welcome the deceased into His abode of peace and light, and will sustain the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies.”

— “We have numerous accounts of heroic actions, one could say of very strong solidarity in the moment,” Cantonal head of government Mathias Reynard told RTS radio Friday. “In the first minutes, it was citizens — and in large part young people — who saved lives with their courage.”

— “Switzerland is a strong country not because it is sheltered from drama, but because it knows how to face them with courage and a spirit of mutual help,” Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in the position that changes hands annually, told reporters Thursday.

“MUM, I’M SCARED”: The Heartbreaking Final Text from Teenage Golf Prodigy Emanuele Galeppini Before He Vanished into the Le Constellation Inferno

In the early hours of January 1, 2026, as fireworks lit up the Alpine sky over Crans-Montana, 17-year-old Italian golf prodigy Emanuele Galeppini sent one final, terrified message to his mother: “MUM, I’M SCARED.”

Moments later, he disappeared into the choking black smoke and flames that engulfed Le Constellation bar during what should have been a joyous New Year’s celebration. That single text has since become a haunting focal point for investigators, who say it may hold critical clues about the sequence of events inside the venue—and the desperate final moments of one of the fire’s youngest victims.

Emanuele, a rising star on the junior golf circuit who lived in Dubai and had recently won the Omega Dubai Creek Amateur Open, was in Crans-Montana on holiday with family and friends. He had gone to Le Constellation—a popular basement bar known for its youthful crowd—with two companions to ring in 2026. His friends escaped with injuries and were hospitalized, but Emanuele never made it out.

According to family statements reported in Italian media, Emanuele’s last contact with his parents came around midnight. His father later told reporters he had been searching the venue and hospitals for his son after the blaze erupted at approximately 1:30 a.m. The chilling text—“MUM, I’M SCARED”—arrived shortly after the fire began, timestamped in the chaotic minutes when panic swept through the packed basement.

Investigators believe this message could be pivotal. Swiss authorities, led by Valais canton prosecutors, are examining phone records, timestamps, and geolocation data from victims’ devices to reconstruct the timeline. The text’s timing suggests Emanuele was already aware of danger—likely seeing flames spread across the ceiling’s flammable acoustic foam—before the crowd’s rush to the narrow staircase created a deadly bottleneck.

“The message indicates he was conscious and trying to reach his mother in those first terrifying seconds,” a source close to the investigation told Swiss outlet Le Temps. “It may help us determine exactly where he was in the venue when the fire took hold and why he couldn’t reach an exit.”

Emanuele’s death was confirmed on January 2, 2026, making him the first publicly identified victim of the tragedy that claimed 40 lives and injured 119 others, many with life-altering burns. The Italian Golf Federation issued a statement paying tribute to “a young athlete who carried with him passion and authentic values,” adding that he would be remembered for his dedication on and off the course. Retired golf legend Nick Faldo also mourned the loss, noting Emanuele had won a U16 Faldo Junior Tour event earlier that year and showed “a bright future.”

The fire’s cause appears increasingly clear: preliminary findings point to lit sparklers atop champagne bottles being held too close to the ceiling by waitresses during a celebratory parade. The sparks ignited acoustic foam panels, triggering a rapid flashover. Witnesses described flames racing across the roof in seconds, followed by thick, toxic smoke and a crush at the single main staircase.

Survivors recounted harrowing scenes: bodies piling up on the stairs, heat melting clothing, screams fading into silence. One teenage girl told reporters, “We were piled on top of each other, some people were burning, and some were dead next to us. I was so scared—scared for myself, scared for my friends, scared for everyone inside.”

Emanuele’s case underscores the tragedy’s disproportionate impact on young people. Most victims were aged 14–26, many teenagers enjoying their first independent New Year’s outings. Other identified victims include 16-year-old Swiss national Arthur Brodard, whose mother Laetitia Brodard-Sitre publicly mourned him on social media, saying, “We can start our mourning, knowing that he is in peace and in the light.”

The emotional toll on families has been immense. Emanuele’s relatives in Italy and Dubai have been left to grieve a promising life cut short. His father described him as a dedicated golfer who balanced training with school and dreamed of turning professional. Photos shared by the family show a smiling teenager on fairways, trophy in hand—images now juxtaposed with the horror of the bar inferno.

Investigators continue to probe potential negligence. The bar had not undergone a required annual fire safety inspection since 2019, a lapse Crans-Montana municipality called “bitterly regretted.” Owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti face a criminal probe for negligent homicide and causing fire, though they insist previous checks found only minor issues.

As the investigation deepens, Emanuele’s final text serves as a stark reminder of the human cost. It captures the terror of a teenager who, in his last moments, reached out to the person he trusted most. For his mother, that message is now both a cherished final connection and a painful echo of what might have been prevented.

In Crans-Montana, makeshift memorials of candles, flowers, and golf balls have appeared near the sealed bar. The golf community worldwide has rallied in tribute, with calls for a junior tournament in Emanuele’s name. Yet for his family, the grief remains raw.

One Italian golf official summed it up: “He was just starting his story. That text shows he knew something was terribly wrong—and he never got the chance to finish telling it.”