Swiss police on Sunday said they had identified 16 more of the victims who died in a bar fire on New Year's Eve that claimed at least 40 lives in one of Switzerland's worst tragedies.
The youngest victim identified was a Swiss girl aged 14, with nine others under the age of 18. The victims included 10 Swiss, and three Italians, as well as Romanian, Turkish and French nationals, police said in a statement.
Police in the canton of Valais have now identified 24 of the victims who died in the blaze in the mountain resort ofCrans-Montanain southern Switzerland. None of them have been named by police.
"Identification operations carried out by the Valais Cantonal Police, the DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) and the Institute of Forensic Medicine have identified 16 new victims who died in the fire on January 1, 2026," police said in a statement.
"Efforts are underway to identify all victims, both deceased and injured."
Italy's ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, confirmed on Saturday that three Italians had been confirmed dead.
The three victims have since been named as Achille Barosi, 16, from Milan, Giovanni Tamburi, 16, from Bologna, and17-year-old golfer, Emanuele Galeppini, from Genoa, who had dual citizenship and lived in Dubai.
Desperate families continue searching for their loved ones and three other Italian teenagers remain missing. The father of Chiara Costanzo, a 16-year old from Milan who had been on a trip with friends, told Italian media "my beloved Chiara is no more".
Swiss officials said 119 were injured in the fire that swept through the crowded bar within minutes. Many of the survivors have been transferred to specialist burns units in France, Germany and Italy.
Nine of the injured were flown to Milan's Niguarda Hospital and several remain in a serious condition.
Swiss authorities have openedan investigation into the managersof the Constellation bar, French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti, where the fire is believed to have ignited.
The pair are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement on Saturday.
They said that the investigation was opened on Friday night, but did not give further details.
The likely cause of the fire during the New Year's celebrations wassparklers on bottlesbeing carried too close to the ceiling, a preliminary investigation has found.
Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar.
The process of identifying the dead and injured was still under way on Sunday, leading to an agonising wait for relatives desperate for news.
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