The fire that killed at least 40 people at a ski resort in Switzerland on New Year’s Eve was caused by sparklers, according to Swiss officials.

In a press conference Friday, officials said it appears as though the fire was ignited by sparklers on top of champagne bottles that were too close to the ceiling. Officials described the fire as a “flashover event,” meaning the entire room caught fire almost instantly.

At least 40 people died in the fire and 119 more are in the hospital as of Friday morning, some with serious injuries.

The blaze broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning in Valais at Le Constellation, a bar at the Swiss ski resort Crans-Montana.

Valais Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud said officials are looking into any criminal activity related to the fire. Pilloud said if criminal activity was involved, investigations will be opened for fire negligence, homicide by negligence, and injuries by negligence.

Pilloud said investigators are also looking into the building’s regulations and safety measures, as well as how many people were inside the building when the fire broke out.

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“The investigations will focus on the renovation work that had been carried out in the bar, the materials used, the licensing arrangements, the safety and security arrangements, fire extinguishers, emergency exits, and other firefighting equipment,” the attorney general added.

But the first priority is identifying the victims and bringing closure to families.

Authorities said Friday it could be days before the identities of those killed are revealed. Officials are looking into dental and DNA records because some of the bodies are unrecognizable from the burns.

Of those injured who have been formally identified, 71 are Swiss, 14 are French, 11 are Italian, and others are from Bosnia, Serbia, Portugal, and Belgium, according to officials.

A witness told the BBC he saw people burning from head to foot as he tried to help people get away from the flames.

Another witness told the BBC that she and her husband were leaving the bar when they saw people screaming and crying while being carried out on stretchers.

Outside the bar, candles and flowers covered the ground in a makeshift shrine to honor the victims.

A vigil will take place January 9 as part of a national day of mourning.

KYIV, Jan 2 (Reuters) – Russian missiles struck a multi-story apartment building in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Friday, leaving the building in ruins and killing at least two people and injuring about 25 more, officials said.

Russia denied the attack had taken place, suggesting that an explosion at the site was caused by Ukrainian ammunition.

Photographs and videos posted online showed smoke rising from an area of destruction, with emergency crews making their way through rubble and large chunks of building materials.

Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov, writing on Telegram, said that according to preliminary information the bodies of a woman and her son were found under rubble.

Speaking earlier on Ukrainian television, Syniehubov said two ballistic missiles had struck the area and “nearly destroyed a five-story dwelling.”

“Rescue teams are on site,” he said. “They are primarily clearing rubble and searching for people underneath.”

Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian air strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 2, 2026. REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy

Ukraine’s state Emergency Services said it was deploying find people it believed were still trapped under the ruins of the building.

Syniehubov earlier said 25 people were injured, with 16 in hospital, including a woman in serious condition. He said customers may have been at shops and a cafe on the building’s first floor when the explosion occurred.

Rescuers work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian air strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine January 2, 2026. REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi

Russia’s Defense Ministry, writing on Telegram, said reports of an attack were untrue and suggested the blast at the site had been caused by the detonation of Ukrainian ammunition.

“Published video footage seconds before the explosion shows thick smoke of unknown origin which, to a high probability, would indicate that a detonation of stored Ukrainian military ammunition occurred at the ‘Persona’ shopping centre,” it said.

The ministry said the reports sought to distract world attention from a New Year’s Eve strike, which it blamed on Ukraine, on a hotel in a Russian-held part of Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Ukraine responded by saying its strikes were aimed at Russian military and energy targets.

The area’s Russia-installed governor, Vladimir Saldo, told TASS news agency on Friday that the death toll in that incident had risen to 28.

Located 30 km (18 miles) from the border, Kharkiv withstood Russian advances in the early weeks of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbor.

With Russia’s forces focused since on capturing eastern regions of the country, the city has been a frequent target of aerial attacks.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Ron Popeski, Gareth Jones and Alistair Bell)