Switzerland holds memorial service during day of mourning for bar fire victims

Switzerland has held a national day of mourning for the 40 people who died in an Alpine bar fire during a New Year’s Eve celebration.

The day was marked by a memorial service and a minute’s silence, while church bells across Switzerland rang for five minutes, beginning at 2pm.

The fire broke out less than two hours after midnight at the Le Constellation bar, in the resort town of Crans-Montana, on January 1.

As well as the fatalities, 116 people were injured, many of them seriously.

Investigators have said they believe sparkling candles on the top of champagne bottles ignited the fire when they came too close to the ceiling.

Authorities are looking into whether soundproofing material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Fire safety inspections had not been carried out since 2019.

The severity of burns made it difficult to identify some victims, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s.

Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.

The Rome prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the blaze, alleging manslaughter and arson, Italian media reported on Thursday.

An autopsy has been ordered for five of the six Italian victims and has been delegated to the prosecutors’ offices in Milan, Bologna and Genoa, where the bodies of the victims have been returned.

“What happened is not a disaster: It’s the result of too many people who didn’t do their job or who thought they were making easy money,” Italian premier Giorgia Meloni said during a press conference on Friday. “Those responsible must be identified and prosecuted.”

Ms Meloni said the State Attorney General’s Office has contacted the Swiss Attorney General to follow the investigation and confirmed that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office has started a separate probe.

“The families have my word that they will not be left alone while they seek justice,” she added.

The Paris prosecutor’s office on Monday announced that it was opening a probe to assist the Swiss investigation and make it easier for families of French victims to communicate with Swiss investigators.

Nine French citizens were killed, the youngest of them aged 14, and 23 others were injured.