The mayor of a Swiss village where 40 people died and 119 suffered severe burns after an inferno tore through a ski bar on New Year’s Day has admitted that the party venue had not had any safety checks for five years.
Speaking to a press conference on Tuesday, Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud said that no safety inspections had been carried out since 2019 at Le Constellation bar in the Swiss ski resort.
‘We are profoundly sorry. We did not have an indication that the checks had not been done’.
‘We regret that – we owe it to the families and we will accept the responsibility.’
The mayor added that the sound-proof foam used in the bar was considered acceptable at the time.
As pictures from inside the bar show, the ceiling was covered in sound-proofing panels, which apparently caught alight from sparklers that were being held too close to the ceiling.
He also said that there is a team of just five people who do ‘immense work’ and carry out checks in the area, looking after more than 10,000 buildings, including restaurants and hotels.
The local council are looking at why this happened, which will include a full audit of all venues in the area and ensure more checks are carried out, Mr Feraud said.
He also said that it is ‘down to the judges’ to determine who is responsible.
Prosecutors have said that the fire that spread rapidly in the early hours of January 1 was likely caused by sparkling candles igniting the ceiling of the bar’s basement.
All sparkler candles have now been banned inside venues, said the mayor at the press conference.
Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers – husband and wife Jacques and Jessica Moretti.
The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.
