In the quiet town of Lutry, Switzerland, the new year dawned not with joy but with unimaginable grief for one family. Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, mother of 16-year-old Arthur Brodard, has opened up about the relentless torment gripping her household since the deadly fire that engulfed Le Constellation bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve.

The blaze erupted around 1:30 a.m. on January 1, 2026, during what should have been a festive celebration for hundreds of young people welcoming the new year. Flames spread with terrifying speed, claiming 40 lives—many of them teenagers—and injuring over 100 others. Arthur, a promising young soccer player from the Lutry Football Club, had gone out with friends to mark the occasion, reserving a table at the popular venue. His last message to his mother at 0:03 a.m. was a simple “Happy New Year, my love,” followed by a short video clip of the group laughing and toasting.

For the next 40 agonizing hours, Laetitia and her husband lived in limbo, desperately searching hospitals, providing DNA samples, and scouring social media for any sign of their son. They clung to faint hope that he might be among the unidentified injured, perhaps too badly hurt to communicate. But the truth emerged in the cruelest way: Arthur perished in the inferno, one of seven teammates from his soccer club lost that night, with others still fighting for survival in burn units across Europe.

Now, weeks later, the family remains shattered. Laetitia has shared that sleep has become impossible. Night after night, the same horrific image replays in her mind: her son screaming amid the flames, trapped and terrified as the bar turned into a death trap. “We can’t close our eyes,” she has confided, describing how the vivid nightmare invades every quiet moment, turning rest into torture. The family home, once filled with Arthur’s laughter and sports gear, now echoes with silence and sorrow. Teammates carried his coffin draped in club colors, and at his funeral, mourners stood in stunned tribute as church bells rang across the region.

The tragedy has rocked Switzerland, where half the victims were under 18, the youngest just 14. Investigations point to small fireworks attached to champagne bottles placed too close to the ceiling as the spark that ignited the rapid blaze. Authorities continue probing venue managers amid growing calls for stricter safety in nightlife spots.

For Laetitia, no explanation can ease the pain. Her final public words captured the depth of her loss: a plea that in another life, Arthur would return as her child again. As the nation mourns, this mother’s raw confession serves as a haunting reminder of how one festive night can destroy futures and leave loved ones forever haunted by screams that never fade.