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Associated Press

Swiss authorities have opened an investigation into the managers of the bar where a fire at a New Year’s Eve party left 40 people dead, police said on Saturday.
The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, the Valais region’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, told reporters.
She said the investigation was opened on Friday night and that it would help “explore all the leads.” The announcement of the investigation did not name the managers.
More than 100 people were injured in the blaze that broke out about 1.30am on Thursday at Le Constellation bar in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana. Police have said many were in their teens to mid-20s.
The process of identifying the dead and injured was still under way on Saturday, leading to an agonising wait for relatives.
Investigators said on Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.
Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar.
Officials said they would also look at other safety measures on the premises, including fire extinguishers and escape routes.

The Valais region’s top security official, Stephane Ganzer, told SRF 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 organisation on the spot”.
“Something didn’t work and someone made a mistake, I am sure of that,” Ganzer said.
Nicolas Féraud, who heads the Crans-Montana municipality, told RTS radio he was “convinced” checks on the bar had not been lax, the broadcaster reported.
Asked whether the tragedy could have been avoided, Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans replied that officials could not yet answer and “we know that the world needs an answer on this question”.
The severity of burns has made it difficult to identify the dead and injured, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. In some cases, wallets and any identification documents inside were turned to ash.
On Saturday, regional police said the bodies of four victims – a boy and a girl, both 16, an 18-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, all of them Swiss – had been identified and handed over to their families.
Laetitia Brodard, whose 16-year-old son, Arthur, went to Le Constellation to celebrate the New Year, held out hope that he might be one of them.
“I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Brodard told reporters Friday evening.


On Saturday, she told French broadcaster BFM TV that “we, parents, are starting to get tired ... and anger is starting to rise”.
“It’s a wait that destroys people’s stability,” said Elvira Venturella, an Italian psychologist working with the families. “And the more time passes, the more difficult it becomes to accept the uncertainty, not having information.”
Swiss officials said on Friday that 119 people were injured and 113 had been formally identified.
On Saturday, Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, told reporters he had just been briefed by local authorities that the number of injured stood at 121, with five not yet identified. He said 14 Italians were being treated in hospitals.
Cornado acknowledged “a lot of stress,” but said it was right for authorities to share information only when it is “accurate and 100 per cent sure”.
Ganzer, visiting the site along with Jans, called the families’ wait “unbearable”, and said officials’ top priority was providing them the “legitimate answers they are waiting for”.
Swiss police have said the injured included more than 70 Swiss nationals and over 10 each from France and Italy, along with citizens of Serbia, Bosnia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland.
Mourners and well-wishers bearing flowers flowed to makeshift memorials outside Le Constellation, some consoling one another with hugs as they shed tears. “RIP you are all our children”, one handwritten note said.


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Switzerland

Managers of Swiss bar face negligence probe after fatal New Year’s Eve fire that killed 40

The entrance to Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, a day after a New Year’s fire swept through the venue. Photo: AFP

A fire in a bar in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Photo: X/Tyroneking36852

Dozens dead and 115 injured in fire at Swiss Alpine bar during New Year’s celebration

Fire breaks out in bar at Crans-Montana ski resort, Switzerland, early Thursday.

A man leaves a candle outside the Le Constellation bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in Switzerland on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

People attend a New Year mass in Montana Station on Thursday to remember the victims of the devastating fire at the Le Constellation bar. Photo: AP

Tragedy struck Crans-Montana as a fire engulfed a bar during New Year celebrations, leaving several dead and injured. Photo: AP

Champagne sparklers blamed for Swiss bar fire that killed 40

The entrance to Le Constellation bar is seen on Friday, a day after a deadly New Year’s Eve fire in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Photo: AFP

Journalists gather in front of the street where a fire ripped through a crowded bar during New Year’s Eve celebrations on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Mourners gather on Friday near Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana. Photo: AFP

Mourners lay flowers and candles near Le Constellation bar. Photo: AFP

The emergency entrance of Hospital du Valais, where victims were received following the fire. Photo: Reuters

Owner of Swiss bar where New Year fire killed 40 insists safety norms were followed

People light candles near the sealed Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland on Friday where a devastating fire left 40 dead and dozens injured during the New Year celebrations. Photo; AP

The entrance of the bar Le Constellation where a fire ripped through the venue during New Year’s Eve celebrations in the Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Photo: AFP

Swiss investigators rush to identify victims of New Year’s fire

People comfort each other outside Le Constellation bar on Friday, a day, after a fire and explosion killed dozens of people in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Photo: Reuters

Fire breaks out in bar at Crans-Montana ski resort, Switzerland, early Thursday. Photo: XTyroneking36852

A Swiss flag flies at half-staff at the Federal Palace in Bern, Switzerland on Friday. Photo: EPA

People bring flowers and candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar on Friday. Photo: AP

Swiss ski resort bar inferno joins long list of world’s worst club fires

The Mountain B pub in Thailand after it was ravaged by fire in 2022. Photo: AP

A hearse and police officers outside Le Constellation bar and lounge in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Photo: Keystone via AP

The aftermath of a 2025 nightclub fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia. Photo: AP

A warehouse in Oakland, California where 36 people died in a fire in 2016. Photo: Reuters

The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, where a fire killed 100 people in 2003. Photo: AP

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Investigators scrutinise ceiling materials and safety exits at Le Constellation bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana


Investigators scrutinise ceiling materials and safety exits at Le Constellation bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana.


Managers of Swiss bar face negligence probe after fatal New Year’s Eve fire that killed 40

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Investigators scrutinise ceiling materials and safety exits at Le Constellation bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana

Investigators scrutinise ceiling materials and safety exits at Le Constellation bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana