Safety set-up of Swiss bar probed after deadly blaze

Scrutiny is intensifying over safety arrangements at the Swiss bar that burst into flames during a New Year’s Eve party, killing at least 40 people, as prosecutors say the blaze was likely started by sparkling candles being held too close to the ceiling.

Witnesses reported seeing staff at Le Constellation bar carrying fountain candles atop champagne bottles, and questions also were raised about the foam material used to soundproof the ceiling of the basement where revelers danced.

Beatrice Pilloud, chief prosecutor of the canton of Valais, where the bar in the luxury ski resort of Crans-Montana is located, said current indications were that the fire started because sparklers got too close to the ceiling.

“From there it was a rapid, very rapid and widespread fire,” he said Friday afternoon.

Pilloud said further investigations will show whether anyone faces criminal liability for the fire.

Prosecutors said investigations will focus on renovations made to the bar, fire extinguishing systems and escape routes, as well as the number of people in the building when the fire started.

Police quickly arrived at the scene, but the fire burned the victims so severely that investigators said days were needed to identify the bodies, locals said.

Demonstrating the painstaking nature of this work, the Valais prosecutor’s office said on Saturday that police had identified the bodies of four Swiss victims, two women and two men aged between 16 and 21, and handed them over to their families. No detailed information was given about their identities.

As of Friday, authorities had identified only one of the dead, Italian international golfer Emanuele Galeppini.

Some of the victims may have been under 16, according to two people familiar with the investigation.

Local residents said the bar was popular with young people and the Swiss government said many of those killed were likely teenagers. Beer and wine can be drunk in Switzerland from the age of 16.

Jacques Moretti, one of the owners of the bar, told the Tribune de Geneve newspaper that Le Constellation had been checked three times in 10 years and everything was done according to the rules. Reuters could not immediately contact the bar’s owners for comment.

Valais security chief Stephane Ganzer said the investigation would determine whether the bar passed its annual building inspection, but the town did not raise concerns or report the defects to the canton.

“This tragic incident will have major consequences for bar safety in Valais and all of Switzerland,” said entrepreneur Sebastian Steuer, who lives in nearby Saviese.

Grieving residents continued to pay their respects to the victims of the blaze on Friday, leaving flowers and tributes nearby as police began reopening the area around the cordoned-off pub in the heart of the wealthy mountain town.

One of them, 23-year-old Ashley Hauri, said she was on the verge of heading to Le Constellation to meet friends just before the fire broke out. He eventually decided against it.

He said six of his former co-workers, ranging in age from their 20s to 40s, were inside when the fire broke out. Two of them were hospitalized; the other four are still missing.

“I was really shocked,” said Hauri, who immediately tried to contact her friends.

“But I had no answers and I got really scared and panicked because I wanted to do something.”