By Emma Farge and Umit Bektas
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland, Jan 6 – No safety inspections were carried out since 2019 at the Swiss bar that burst into flames at New Year, killing 40 people, the mayor of the ski resort of Crans-Montana said on Tuesday.
Most of the victims of the blaze that tore through the “Le Constellation” bar in the early hours of January 1 were teenagers and Swiss authorities have been scrambling to find answers as to how the disaster occurred.
“We are profoundly sorry. We did not have an indication that the checks had not been done,” Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud told reporters on the absence of fire checks between 2020-2025 at the bar in the canton of Valais.
Prosecutors have said the fire that spread rapidly in the early hours of January 1 was likely caused by sparkling candles igniting the ceiling of the bar’s basement, which was covered in a foam material used for sound-proofing.
ANNUAL INSPECTIONS REQUIRED
Feraud said fire inspections should be carried out annually in the town’s bars, and that the last one in 2019 at “Le Constellation” had been positive.
The sound-proof foam on its ceiling was considered acceptable at the time, and a fire alarm was not required due to the bar’s size, he added.
“There was never any checks on this sound-proofing foam. Our security agents did not consider it necessary,” Feraud said.
SPARKLER CANDLES NOW BANNED
Sparkler candles have now been banned inside the town’s venues, he said.
Authorities are investigating the two people who ran the bar on suspicion of crimes including homicide by negligence. On Sunday, police said circumstances did not currently merit them being put under arrest, and they did not see a flight risk.
Feraud said authorities had closed another venue run by the bar’s operators.
(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Umit Bektas in Crans-Montana, Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Friederike Heine and Dave Graham)
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