2026

BERLIN, Jan 1 (Reuters) – Following are some key facts about the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana where officials said dozens of people were killed and 100 injured, most of them seriously, after a fire tore through a crowded bar during a New Year’s Eve party.

LOCATION

Crans-Montana is in the Swiss Alps in the French-speaking part of the canton of Valais. It lies on a plateau above the city of Sierre, around 1,500 metres (4,920 feet) above sea level, with views of the Valais Alps and the Weisshorn mountain.

VIP CONNECTIONS

The resort has attracted a long line-up of celebrities, including James Bond star Roger Moore who lived there until his death in 2017. Model Claudia Schiffer, actor Hugh Grant and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy have all passed through.

It hosts major events including the Omega European Masters golf tournament, which drew more than 48,000 spectators in 2024, and the Alpine Ski World Cup, attended by 37,000 people.

TOURISM

Around three million people visit Crans-Montana every year, far more than its local population of 10,500.

From November 2023 to October 2024, Swiss travellers accounted for 66% of hotel stays, according to Crans-Montana Tourism & Congress Committee data.

This was followed by tourists from France (7.3%), Italy (3.7%), Britain (3.5%), the United States (2.8%), the Gulf states (2.4%), Belgium (2.1%) and Germany (2.0%).

OWNERSHIP AND NETWORK

Crans-Montana’s ski operations are part of the international Epic Pass network operated by U.S.-listed Vail Resorts, which acquired the resort’s ski lift company in 2024.

Vail Resorts manages 42 mountain sites, including Crans-Montana and Andermatt-Sedrun in Switzerland.

In its December 2025 capital plan, Vail highlighted the rising importance of its Swiss resorts in attracting U.S. visitors and boosting revenue in Europe.

ACTIVITIES AND SPENDING

The resort has 140 km (87 miles) of ski slopes, mountain biking trails, hiking routes and championship golf courses, according to its annual report.

It also has 2,678 hotel beds and many holiday apartments. In 2024, 1.45 million Swiss francs ($1.83 million) of central reservation sales and 283,515 Swiss francs from activity bookings were recorded.

($1 = 0.7923 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

source

NAIROBI, Jan 1 (Reuters) – Somalia’s armed forces have eliminated 29 al-Shabaab militants in the town of Jabad Godane in southeastern Somalia, in coordination with international partners, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Al-Shabaab has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2007 in a bid to topple the internationally-backed central government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of sharia law.

The ministry said in a statement on X that it also destroyed vehicles and weapons “that were intended for use in terrorist attacks against civilians,” through airstrike operations in the Middle Shabelle region conducted overnight.

“The Ministry of Defence extends its appreciation to international partners for their continued support in security cooperation, intelligence sharing, and operational enablement in the fight against terrorism,” it said but did not specify which partners it was referring to.

(Reporting by Vincent Mumo Nzilani;Writing by Sfundo Parakozov;Editing by Gareth Jones and Ros Russell)

source

By Denis Balibouse

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland, Jan 1 (Reuters) – As he approached Le Constellation bar to celebrate the New Year in a snowy Swiss ski resort bright with Christmas lights, Dominic Dubois saw flames engulfing the building.

“You could see the orange, the orange, yellow, red,” Dubois told Reuters, describing chaotic scenes as bystanders and emergency crews worked together to pull victims clear.

He described how people who had managed to escape the burning building were plunged into the cold outside. “So one of the priorities was to get everyone warm … the curtains of the restaurant were used,” he said.

Dozens of people were killed and around 100 injured when fire tore through the crowded bar during a New Year’s Eve party in the Crans-Montana resort, officials said on Thursday.

Nearby, local resident Samuel Rapp, 21, was dining at a Mexican restaurant when he heard of the blaze, and rushed with his girlfriend to Le Constellation, a bar popular with young locals.

“Police and paramedics … had already set up a protective perimeter,” he told Reuters. “There were people screaming, and then people lying on the ground, probably dead. They had jackets over their faces.”

Fire broke out in the bar at 1.30 a.m. (0030 GMT). The cause of the blaze, which was initially reported as an explosion, was not yet clear but authorities said it appeared to be an accident rather than an attack.

BANK BRANCH GIVES SHELTER TO SURVIVORS

Rapp said he had seen videos showing desperate partygoers trampling each other to escape. “People were shouting, ‘help me, please help us.’”

The local branch of UBS bank opened up to give refuge to survivors, said Dubois, standing at the police cordon on Thursday in a green knitted hat.

“All the tables were pushed aside and people entered and it was warm in there, there was more light as well, so the triage was down there,” he said.

“Paramedics, police – not the firemen, the firemen were out here. And then it was just ambulances coming back and forth as much as possible.”

Video footage showed lines of ambulances queuing and helicopters landing to take victims of the blast to nearby hospitals and specialist burns units in other Swiss cities.

A waiter in a restaurant near the bar, who declined to be named, said first responders approached staff to ask for tablecloths to cover the bodies to conceal them from onlookers.

In daylight on Thursday, the bar was covered in white sheeting with a tent set up outside and a grey hearse parked in front.

A policeman stood guard, next to two festive reindeer.

(Reporting by Denis BalibouseAdditional reporting by Emma FargeWriting by Ros RussellEditing by Frances Kerry)

source

Jan 1 (Reuters) – A Russian drone attack damaged power infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday, while Moscow accused Ukraine of carrying out a deadly new year attack in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine.

“On New Year, Russia deliberately brings war. Over 200 attack drones were launched onto Ukraine in the night,” Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.

Zelenskiy said energy infrastructure in seven regions across Ukraine had been targeted.

Russia accused Ukraine of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where civilians were seeing in the New Year in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.

Ukraine’s military, which has accused Russia of killing thousands of civilians in its own attacks on Ukrainian cities, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Moscow’s accusation.

Zelenskiy said that Russia’s holiday season attacks showed Ukraine could not afford delays in air defence supplies.

“(Our) allies have the names of equipment which we are lacking. We expect that everything agreed with the United States at the end of December for our defence will arrive on time,” he said, without clarifying further.

Zelenskiy met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to negotiate a peace framework to end the nearly four-year war. Both leaders have said they are close to an agreement, but thorny issues around post-war control of territories remain.

The Ukrainian energy ministry said a “significant number” of households in the Volyn and Odesa regions – in northwestern and southwestern Ukraine, respectively – were disconnected from power supplies by the overnight strikes, as well as some in the Chernihiv region north of the capital Kyiv.

The governor of Volant said more than 103,000 households in that region had lost power as a result of the attack. Volyn region is several hundred kilometres from the front line and borders NATO member Poland.

(Reporting by Max HunderEditing by Gareth Jones and Ros Russell)

source