Swiss media suggested that the fire may have started when pyrotechnics were used during a concert.
Stephane Ganzer, head of Wallis’s security department, however, said “the initial investigation shows … the explosion was in fact a consequence of the fire”.
“It wasn’t an explosive device that caused the fire,” he told reporters.Â
“As things stand, we are favouring the theory of a fire, and there is absolutely no question of a terrorist attack,” stressed Pilloud, the prosecutor.
Some 10 helicopters, 40 ambulances and 150 health workers took part in the response, authorities said.Â
When emergency services arrived, they found “a scene of chaos”, Ganzer said.
“The party was in full swing … music and champagne flowing freely,” a resident who said they lived nearby told 24 heures, a Lausanne newspaper.
But as news of the fire broke, they said, the carefree mood vanished, and people began gathering in the street. “We could hear the sirens in the distance. Around me, people were stunned, worried, silent.”
“We heard helicopters all night long,” another neighbour told 24 heures.
“With the fireworks, we didn’t understand what was going on at first. Then we saw the smoke. It’s terrible, a lot of young people go to that bar.”