Authorities have launched an investigation into the managers of a bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, after 40 people died at a New Year’s Eve party.
The deadly fire has sent shockwaves through the local community – Image: Lisa Leutner/REUTERS
Swiss authorities said on Saturday they have launched a criminal investigation into the two French owners of the Crans-Montana ski resort bar where 40 people died in a fire during a New Year’s Eve party.
“They are accused of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligent causing of a conflagration,” the police for the region of Valais, where Crans-Montana is located, announced.
“It should be remembered that the presumption of innocence applies until a final conviction is reached.”
As well as the 40 deaths, another 119 people were injured, most of them severely. Police have said that many of the injured are teens or people in their mid-20s.
Authorities were still identifying the dead and injured on Saturday.
What are Swiss investigators looking into?
The main question is whether safety standards were being abided by during the New Year’s Eve party.
One of the owners said on Friday that they had followed the safety rules. According to the bar’s website, it had a capacity for 300 people as well as 40 on the terrace.
But Beatrice Pilloud, chief prosecutor of the Valais region, said that safety standards were the focus of the investigation.
Fire safety experts have already raised the possibility that the bar did not have enough emergency exits.
They have also questioned whether soundproofing foam material installed under the ceiling was compliant with the law.
The owners, who are also a couple, told the media they were devastated and have been cooperating with authorities.
Sparklers blamed for New Year’s Eve blaze
Pilloud said on Friday that the leading hypothesis of the cause of the fire was that “sparklers or Bengal candles attached to champagne bottles” had been “lifted too close to the ceiling.”
Footage from the bar shared on social media showed the low ceiling catching fire, with the flames spreading quickly.
The fire broke out in the basement of the establishment of La Constellation at 1:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) on Thursday, with witnesses saying there was only a “narrow” staircase connecting it with the ground floor.
Stephane Ganzer, the top security official for the Valais region, told Swiss public radio on Saturday that “such a huge accident with a fire in Switzerland means that something didn’t work — maybe the material, maybe the organization on the spot.”
“Something didn’t work and someone made a mistake, I am sure of that.”
(DW.com/NAN 3-1-25)
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