Hertfordshire teen Charlotte Niddam was one of the final victims to have her identity confimed by police – Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has called the news ‘devastating’
A British schoolgirl has been confirmed as one of the victims of a holiday fire at a Swiss ski resort that left 40 people dead and left a further 119 injured.
Charlotte Niddam, 15, was among the final victims identified by police after the New Year’s Day from hell at the Crans-Montana resort. The youngster had been posted as missing after the Constellation bar turned into a deathtrap during 2026 celebrations. In a tear-jerking social media post, her family said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beautiful daughter and sister Charlotte.”
The youngster, who was working as a babysitter in the snowy hotspot, previously attended Immanuel College in Hertfordshire. Teachers at the top school had previously told how they were “praying for a miracle”—but their worst fears were confirmed this weekend.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper led the tributes, calling the news “terrible” and “devastating.” Police in the Valais region confirmed all 40 bodies have now been identified, including a tragic “lost generation” of teens from Italy, France, and Switzerland.
Now, investigations are being launched into whether the bar’s ceiling—designed to keep the noise down—actually turned the venue into a tinderbox. Investigators are also checking if fire extinguishers were up to scratch and if escape routes were blocked when the New Year party turned into a nightmare.
The Police Cantonale du Valais – the local Valais constabulatory – force published a statement on Sunday confirming that all 40 people killed in the fire have now been identified.
“The identification operations carried out by the Valais Cantonal police, [specialised forensic process] Disaster Victim Identification, and the Institute of Legal Medicine have made it possible to identify 16 new people who died in the fire of January 1, 2026 at the bar ‘Le Constellation’,” police said in their statement. “Out of respect for the families, no further information will be disclosed.”
The last 16 victims included two Swiss girls aged 15, a Swiss woman aged 22, a Swiss and French woman aged 24, two Italian girls aged 16 and 15, an Italian boy aged 16, a 22-year-old Portuguese woman, a 17-year-old Belgian girl, two French women aged 33 and 26, two French men aged 23 and 20, two French teenage boys aged 17 and 14, and a 15-year-old girl with French, British, and Israeli nationalities, police said.
Authorities previously said they would look into whether the material on the ceiling of the venue that was designed to muffle sound conformed to safety regulations. Officials said they would also look at other safety measures on the premises, including fire extinguishers and escape routes.
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