Swiss Prosecutors Seek Detention of Bar Co-Owner After Fire Kills 40

Swiss prosecutors asked a court on Friday, Jan. 9, to hold a co-owner of the Le Constellation bar in pretrial detention, citing a risk of flight, according to Al Jazeera. The request came the same day Switzerland observed a national day of mourning for the 40 people killed when a fire swept through the bar in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Valais chief prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said the co-owner’s wife, who also helps manage the bar, would remain free under judicial supervision, Al Jazeera reported. Under Swiss law a court must rule on a detention request within 48 hours. The owners have pledged “full cooperation” with investigators, the outlet said. Authorities have been investigating the bar’s managers since the night of Jan. 2 on suspicion of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Associated Press reports carried by CBS News and PBS NewsHour.

Al Jazeera reported that 116 people were injured and that more than half of the dead were teenagers, with French and Italian citizens among the victims. Earlier counts differed as hospitals and police compiled lists: the AP reported on Jan. 3 that Swiss officials counted 119 injured and Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, said 121, including 14 Italians in hospitals. The injured included more than 70 Swiss nationals and more than 10 each from France and Italy, plus citizens of Serbia, Bosnia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland.

Investigators say the fire began around 1:30 a.m. when sparklers attached to Champagne bottles were held too close to the ceiling of the crowded basement bar, which was lined with sound-insulation foam. Prosecutors are examining whether the ceiling material met regulations, whether the candles were permitted, and other safety measures including fire extinguishers and escape routes, the AP reported.

The question of oversight has drawn public anger. Local authorities said on Tuesday, Jan. 6, that the bar had not undergone a safety inspection since 2019, according to Al Jazeera. Early in the inquiry, Nicolas Féraud, head of the Crans-Montana municipality, told Swiss broadcaster RTS he was “convinced” checks on the bar had not been lax, the AP reported. Stéphane Ganzer, the Valais canton’s top security official, told SRF that something had failed, possibly the materials or the on-site organization, and that he was sure “someone made a mistake.”

Identifying victims has been slow. Because of severe burns, families were asked to provide DNA samples, and some wallets and identity documents were destroyed, the AP said. Police had identified four victims by Jan. 3, all Swiss and aged 16 to 21. Justice Minister Beat Jans and Ganzer visited the site and called the families’ wait “unbearable.”

On Friday the country paused. Al Jazeera said the nation observed a minute of silence followed by church bells, and about 1,000 people attended an official ceremony in Martigny, among them French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. About 1,400 more watched a livestream at the Crans-Montana congress centre. Swiss President Guy Parmelin said, “Our country is devastated by this tragedy,” and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for stern punishment for those responsible. A memorial outside the bar has been covered with a white tarpaulin to protect it from heavy snow.

The inquiry is at an early stage. No charges have been announced, and the bar’s managers have not been convicted of anything.