Swiss resort bar fire ‘likely started by sparkler candles’

CRANS-MONTANA – Dozens of young partygoers injured in a New Year’s Eve bar fire in Switzerland were transferred to specialist burn units across Europe as they fought for their lives on Friday after being hit by the devastating blaze, which has killed at least 40.

Initial findings showed the fire that spread among the mostly young crowd of revellers in Le Constellation bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana was likely caused by sparkler candles being carried too close to the ceiling, the local prosecutor said.

Meanwhile, investigators focused on the painful task of identifying the burned bodies, warning that this process was very sensitive and would take time.

So severe were the burns that Swiss officials said it could take days before they name all those killed in the fire. The official toll is 40 dead, while 119 have been injured, many of them very seriously. Those numbers are not final, officials said.

“Many of those injured are still fighting for their lives today,” Valais area chief Mathias Reynard told a news conference.

Around 50 of the injured have been, or will be, transferred to burn units in hospitals elsewhere in Europe, he said.

Of the injured, 113 have been identified, 71 of whom are Swiss, 14 French and 11 Italian, police chief Frederic Gisler told the same news conference.

Initial investigations suggest that the fire which tore through the Swiss ski resort bar started when ‘fountain candles’ attached to champagne bottles were carried aloft too close to the ceiling, local prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said.

“Everything suggests that the fire started from the burning candles or ‘Bengal lights’ that had been attached to champagne bottles,” she told the news conference, adding that, while this hypothesis was likely, it was not yet confirmed. “From there, a rapid, very rapid and widespread conflagration ensued.”

The investigation was also checking whether the ceiling’s insulation foam was to blame for the rapid spread of the fire, Pilloud said.

Further investigations will show if anyone needs to be held criminally liable for negligence, she added. (Reuters)

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