Swiss Alps bar missed inspections prior to fatal fire, authorities say

Local authorities in the Swiss Alps town of Crans-Montana said on Tuesday they failed to conduct periodic fire and safety inspections over the past five years at a bar where an inferno killed 40 people and injured 116 others.

"Periodic inspections were not conducted between 2020 and 2025. We bitterly regret this," Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Féraud told a press conference in the Alpine ski resort, five days after the disaster at Le Constellation bar during New Year celebrations.

Féraud said he could not immediately explain why safety inspections hadn't been conducted for such a long time. He said the council "did not have an indication that the checks had not been done".

Investigators have said they believe sparkler candles atop champagne bottles ignited the fire during a New Year's party at Le Constellation when they came too close to the ceiling.

Authorities are investigating whether the ceiling soundproofing complied with regulations and whether sparkler candles were permitted for use in the bar.

At the press conference, Féraud said that an external expert had been asked to carry out a soundproofing analysis last September and had concluded that the bar complied with anti-noise rules.

However, the expert did not examine the state of the bar's soundproofing foam panels and "whether they were fireproof," according to Féraud.

The mayor also announced a ban on all kinds of sparklers from local venues, calling the decision a "no brainer".

Féraud said he would not resign and that it would be "down to the judges" to decide if the council would be part of a criminal investigation into the fire.

Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The pair are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.

The severity of burns made it challenging to identify some victims of the fire that broke out in the early hours of New Year's Day, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples.

Investigators finished identifying the 40 dead on Sunday and said on Monday that they had the names of all 116 people who were injured.