Filipino Casualty Confirmed In Swiss Tragedy

Cover image: Photo showing lit sparklers attached to bottles inside Le Constellation nightclub in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, shared online with claims they were taken around the start of the fire on New Year's Eve

SWITZERLAND—The Philippine Honorary Consul to Lugano, Margherita Maffeis, has confirmed to TFCN that a Filipino is among the casualties of the catastrophic New Year’s Eve explosion and fire at a Swiss bar.

This confirmation follows reports TFCN gathered that a 16-year-old Filipino male victim from Milan, Italy is one of those injured in the incident.

While Consul Maffeis acknowledged the casualty during a brief exchange with TFCN Italy senior correspondent Maricel Burgonio, she declined to provide further specifics, requesting instead that all additional inquiries be submitted via email for official response.

The European Network of Filipino Diaspora (ENFID) in Switzerland and Italy are reportedly assisting the family of the victim, identified in local newspapers as Kean Talingdan, and is coordinating with the Philippine mission in Switzerland.

TFCN talked to a member of the family of the victim who described a harrowing final phone call from the teenager immediately after the New Year's Eve bar explosion in Switzerland.

Kean, who lives in Milan, Italy, reportedly managed to tell his father that 50 per cent of his body had been burned before the line went dead.

The family is now awaiting the results of a DNA test from Zurich University Hospital, where they believe Kean was admitted, to confirm if the unidentified patient is indeed him.

However, no official statement has been released yet by the Philippine Embassy in Switzerland or the Consulate in Milan as of this writing.

The Swiss tragedy occurred at approximately 1:30 am on 01 January 2026 at Le Constellation bar in the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana. The blaze, which was initially reported as an explosion, claimed roughly 40 lives and left 115 others injured, many of whom are young people.

Investigators are currently looking into reports that the fire may have been sparked by pyrotechnics or "fountain candles" on champagne bottles igniting the wooden ceiling. The identification process is expected to be lengthy due to the severity of the injuries.