A Swiss bar where dozens died in a fire had not been inspected in several years, officials said

Geneva — A fire safety inspection had not been carried out for several years at the bar where a fire broke out at a New Year’s party it left 40 people dead and over 100 injuredsaid local authorities on Tuesday.

Investigators said they believe it glowing candles atop bottles of Champagne they started a fire at Le Constellation in the town of Crans-Montana when they got too close to the roof. Authorities are checking whether the soundproofing in the ceiling complies with the rules and whether candles were allowed to be used in the bar.

The Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The two are accused of involuntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and recklessly causing a fire, according to the chief prosecutor of the Valais region.

Regional authorities have said that safety inspections are a municipal responsibility. On Tuesday, the municipality of Crans-Montana said that Le Constellation tests, including fire safety tests, had been carried out in 2016, 2018 and 2019, and that changes had been requested – but there were no problems with the sound insulation measures suggested.

The local council found after consulting the documents after the fire that “the assessment was not carried out between 2020 and 2025,” the head of the Crans-Montana municipal government, Nicolas Féraud, told a press conference.

“We are very sorry for this,” he said, adding that it will be in the hands of the judiciary what influence it may have had on the series of incidents that led to the fire. “We owe it to the families, and we will accept the responsibility,” said Féraud.

“This tragedy has brought uncertainty to the entire region. Now we are putting everything in place to reassure” people, he said.

Féraud said he could not immediately explain why there had been no safety checks for so long.

He said that in September last year, an external expert was asked to carry out a noise protection investigation, which concluded that the bar complies with the anti-noise laws without comment.

The severity of the fire made it difficult to identify the victims of the fire that broke out around 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, requiring families to provide DNA samples to authorities.

The investigators completing the identification of 40 dead on Sunday and on Monday he said they had identified all 116 injured people.

Féraud said the test reports showed that the maximum number of people was 100 on the ground floor of the bar and 100 in the basement. It is not clear how many people were in the Constellation when the fire broke out and investigators said that may never be known.

The municipality said the owner of the bar obtained a permit to build a balcony in 2015 and also did interior work in an area that did not require a permit.

It said that it has now decided to ban the use of explosives in the house and commission an external agency to inspect these facilities.