Fireworks to blame for at least eight other horror nightclub fires
In one incident last year, 63 people were killed when a pyrotechnics display ignited the ceiling at a nightclub in eastern Europe.
January 2, 2026 — 9.35am
A fire at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana in the early hours of New Year’s Day has left dozens of people presumed dead and about 100 injured, including an Australian.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, which spread through the bar after the ceiling caught alight. One witness said the fire began with a sparkler or firework attached to a bottle of champagne.
A photograph of the Swiss bar reportedly taken by a survivor before the fire broke out.Credit: BFMTV
At least eight other fatal fires in nightclubs over the past 25 years have been started by fireworks or flares that have mostly ignited the ceiling. That includes a blaze less than 12 months ago, when 63 people were killed after a pyrotechnics display at a nightclub in North Macedonia ignited the ceiling.
Fires at nightclub, bar and music venues around the world have killed hundreds of people since the 1940s. These are some of the worst incidents.
December 2025: A fire ripped through a popular nightclub in Arpora village, in India’s Goa state, killing 25 people, including kitchen workers and tourists.
March 2025: A fire and ensuing stampede at the crowded Pulse club in Kocani, North Macedonia, killed 63 people, most of them young revellers, and injured more than 200. It was set off by a pyrotechnic flame, captured below, that engulfed the roof of the club.
April 2024: A blaze at the Masquerade nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, trapped workers and employees while the venue was closed for renovations, leaving 29 people dead. It was located on the ground and basement floors of a 16-storey residential building.
October 2023: A fire that began at a nightclub in the southeastern Spanish city of Murcia and spread to two other clubs left 13 people dead.
January 2022: A nightclub in Sorong, in Indonesia’s West Papua province, burned after two groups attacked each other inside the building. Nineteen people were killed.
January 2022: A blaze at Liv’s Nightclub Yaouba in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, set off explosions that killed 17 people. The government suggested that fireworks set the roof alight and the fire then spread to areas where cooking gas was stored.
