BREAKING: LAUGHING VOICE CAPTURED IN DEADLY SWISS BAR FIRE — A DISCARDED PHONE MAY HOLD THE MOST DISTURBING CLUE YET.

As investigators dig deeper into the inferno that turned a Swiss bar into a death trap, a chilling new detail has emerged. Police have recovered a discarded phone containing video and audio recorded during the chaos. The footage is blurred, faces unrecognizable — but one thing cuts through the smoke and screams with horrifying clarity: laughter. A cold, unmistakable cackle echoing while people fought for air and lives were slipping away. Authorities say the recording is now central to the investigation, as outrage explodes over how someone could film — and laugh — in the middle of such agony.

Social media has erupted with fury and disbelief. Who was holding the phone? Who was laughing while others were dying? The clip has reignited demands for justice, accountability, and answers that families of the victims are still desperately waiting for. As prosecutors analyze the footage frame by frame, one question refuses to go away — what really happened inside that bar in those final moments?

Young children and their parents light candlesImage source,EPA/Shutterstock
Families are still anxiously search for missing loved ones, almost two days after a fire ripped through a bar in the Swiss ski town of Crans-Montana.

People hold sparklers attached to champagne bottles in the Swiss ski resort bar just before the fire started - with a small orange patch of fire seen on what looks like a foam ceiling above the sparklers.

Among those reported missing are Achille Barosi – who had gone back to the bar to get his jacket – and Emilie Pralong, who is thought to have gone to the bar with several friends.

“I’m living a nightmare,” says the mother of another missing 16-year-old, Arthur Brodard.

Swiss officials confirmed earlier today that the death toll remains at 40 people and that formal identification of the dead is still under way.

We’ve also heard more about the 119 people injured. Seventy-one Swiss citizens, 14 French and 11 Italians are among them.

Authorities believe sparklers attached to champagne bottles are the likely cause of the fire – although “several hypotheses” are still being examined.

With the fate of many still unclear, schoolteachers and youth football clubs are among those sharing information about the missing. As our correspondent in Crans-Montana Sarah Rainsford puts it, one of the most striking details of this tragedy is how young the victims are.

We’re pausing our live coverage, but you can read more about the investigation into the fire and its causes in our news article, as well as this BBC Verify piece