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Explosion rips through bar at Swiss ski resort killing several people and injuring others as they celebrate the New Year. (Image: )

A teenage survivor of the devastating Swiss ski resort blaze that claimed several dozen lives managed to flee only after wielding a table as a battering ram – but his mates are now either dead or missing.

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The horrific inferno erupted at approximately 1.30am (12.30am Irish time) at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, south-west Switzerland on Thursday morning, with shocking footage capturing flames soaring to the venue’s ceiling. Over 100 others sustained injuries after becoming trapped inside, forcing patrons to smash their way out in a frantic struggle for survival.

Amongst them was Axel Clavier, a 16 year old, who was one of two individuals who reported having to shatter a window from its frame before managing to flee.

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Axel revealed he survived the inferno by utilising a table to force a plexiglass window from its frame, enabling his escape from the “total chaos” within the establishment. He was the sole member of his group who managed to secure his freedom, with his companions either perished or unaccounted for.

He revealed one of his group had died, and that “two or three were missing”, noting that prior to the fire’s outbreak he had witnessed waitresses entering the bar carrying champagne bottles and speakers.

Axel wasn’t the only individual who smashed a window to flee, with another unnamed gentleman telling the AFP news agency that he too was trapped. He stated: “We were trapped, a lot of people were trapped. We couldn’t see because of the smoke. We didn’t know how we were going to get out.”

He went on: “I was alone and didn’t know how I could do it, but I managed to break a window and get out through the window. Half of my clothes were gone, it was crazy.

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The area around the bar Le Constellation after a fire ripped through the venue during the New Year’s Eve celebrations in the luxury Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana, on January 1, 2026.(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

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Switzerland’s President called the disaster ‘one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced’. (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“I was in the basement. Me and my friends were having fun, unfortunately some of our friends are no longer with us because of the fire. It was crazy. People were trapped. I had to put a table up to hide behind it, trapped by the blaze. But I got out. That’s the main thing.”

The other patron revealed he had witnessed waitresses bringing champagne bottles into the bar, with flares positioned “too close to the ceiling”. He described how the inferno “spread rapidly”.