A young man who died in the New Year's Eve fire in Switzerland had Catalan roots
His family will hold a ceremony at the Sant Cugat monastery
BarcelonaThe New Year's Eve tragedy in Switzerland following the fire in a bar in the town of Crans-MontanaThe tragedy has so far claimed 40 lives. However, this toll is still provisional, as 119 more people were injured, most of them critically. On Sunday, Swiss forensic services identified all the bodies: among the deceased were 22 Swiss nationals, while the second most affected national group was French, with seven victims. Six of the deceased were Italian, two Romanian, one Portuguese, one Belgian, and one Turkish. One of the most harrowing facts is that half of the dead (who ranged in age from 14 to 39) were minors. Among the victims was 18-year-old Joaquim Van Thuyne Daniel, the son of a Catalan mother. Although he was born in Switzerland in 2007 and his family lived there, the young man had Catalan roots. He played football and was at the bar with other team members who also lost their lives. His grandfather, Josep Daniel, is well-known in Sant Cugat del Vallès, where he is a co-founder of the University Extension Program for Seniors. In fact, a funeral mass is expected to be held at the Sant Cugat monastery to remember the victim. At the moment, no date has been set. The young man's burial will take place in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"An unexpected and deeply felt loss"
All this information is provided by the family in an obituary published in The Vanguard"He left us prematurely in Crans, Montana, on January 1, 2026," the obituary laments. His parents, John and Montserrat, and his sisters, Ella and Liv, as well as the entire family, expressed their grief over "such an unexpected and deeply felt loss," requesting a prayer in Joaquin's memory. At this point, the leading hypothesis is that the fire was started by a sparkler attached to a bottle. These are sparklers that are often used in VIP areas when a group buys a bottle of alcohol. Several videos have been posted on social media showing patrons of the bar recording how the ceiling burned until it led to this tragic end.
