The French owners of a Swiss ski resort bar are now under criminal investigation.
Their potential negligence is the focus of a probe into the deadly fire at the bar Le Constellation at Crans-Montana in Valais, which killed 40 people and injured 119 others.
Police have now identified 16 more of the victims who perished in the fire which broke out about 1.30am on New Year’s Day.
Nine of the newly identified victims were under the age of 18, police said. Two of them were sisters, aged just 14 and 16.
Most of the victims were young, with the bar attracting a young crowd, and the legal drinking age in the country being 16.
But it is unclear if victims under the legal drinking age were accompanied by a guardian-authorised adult, as is required by local law after 10pm.
As part of the police probe, the French couple’s earlier renovations of the bar, images of which have since been removed from social media, will also come under scrutiny.
The images show foamy cladding on the ceiling, which witnesses said may have been ignited by powerful sparklers that Le Constellation staff carry around the venue in Champagne bottles.
Witnesses have also spoken of an exit in the venue which panicked patrons struggled to pass through while fleeing, and the earlier renovation images in question appear to show an exit that has been narrowed.
Co-owner Jacques Moretti told Swiss newspaper Tribune de Genève on Friday that the establishment had been inspected “three times in 10 years” and that rules had been followed.
—With CNN
Images of foam ceiling cladding, indoor sparklers, and old renovations at Le Constellation have surfaced on social media. Credit: CNN/7NEWS
Play Video
A devastating fire at a bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland during New Year’s Eve celebrations killed 40 people and injured 119 young people.
A devastating fire at a bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland during New Year’s Eve celebrations killed 40 people and injured 119 young people.