Swiss authorities have admitted a failure in regular fire safety checks at the Le Constellation bar, where the tragedy on New Year’s Eve left 40 dead and dozens injured.
Swiss authorities admitted on Tuesday that regular fire safety checks had not been carried out at the Le Constellation bar in the Crans Montana resort for the past five years. On New Year’s Day, 40 people died and another 116 were injured in a fire there, TASR writes about it according to the AFP agency.
- The fire inspection of Le Constellation bar has failed.
- The fire in Crans Montana claimed 40 lives and injured 116.
- The victims were mainly young people from all over Europe.
“Regular checks were not carried out between 2020 and 2025. We deeply regret this,” said Crans Montana mayor Nicolas Feraud at a press conference five days after the disaster.
Fire safety checks
The functionality of fire extinguishers is part of the fire inspections. According to him, only the inspection will decide whether the noise insulation materials on the ceiling should have been checked as well.
A fire broke out on the night of January 1 in the Le Constellation bar and claimed 40 lives. 116 people were injured, of which approximately 83 people were still in the hospital on Monday.
Victims from all over Europe
The dead were from all over Europe, mostly from Switzerland, France and Italy. The youngest victims were only 14 and their average age was 19.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened a parallel investigation into the case to facilitate communication with the Swiss authorities. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said in a post on social media that “in civilized Switzerland, the prison gates will have to be opened for quite a few people.” He also questioned the functionality of emergency systems and the implementation of security checks.
Funeral ceremony and repatriation
A memorial service for the victims will be held in Crans-Montana on Friday. The French government said President Emmanuel Macron would attend. The Italian government said Monday it had repatriated the bodies of five of the six Italians who died in the fire.
