Sparklers may have led to deadly New Year’s Swiss resort bar fire, investigators say

(CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland) — Investigators probing the deadly New Year’s Day fire at a Swiss resort bar are looking into the possibility that it started from sparklers that were too close to the ceiling.

Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Attorney General, told reporters Friday that investigators were still conducting interviews and going through evidence from the wreckage at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana but she said that they are “pursuing several hypotheses,” based on the evidence they’ve gathered so far.

“We currently assume that the fire was caused by sparklers attached to champagne bottles that came too close to the ceiling,” she said at a news conference.

“Initial evidence has been secured at the scene,” Pilloud added.

Forty people were killed and 119 people were injured in the blaze, according to authorities who said the fire spread very rapidly.

Investigators are working to identify the deceased victims.

“No mistakes can be permitted. We need to give the correct remains back to the families,” Pierre-Antoine Lengen, the head of the Swiss Judicial Police, told reporters.

Of the injured, 71 were Swiss citizens, 14 were French, 11 were Italian, and others were from Bosnia, Serbia, Portugal and Belgium, according to officials.

The nationalities of the 14 other injured victims were not immediately determined.

Pilloud said that more interviews will be conducted and noted that investigators spoke with the two French managers of the bar.

“For now, there is no penal liability which has been identified,” she said when a reporter asked about any liability.

Investigators are also looking into the building’s safety measures and building regulations, according to Pilloud.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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