Bodies of five Italian teens being repatriated after Swiss fire

Sion, Switzerland: The bodies of five of the six Italian nationals killed in the Swiss fire disaster in Crans Montana were being repatriated on Monday...

Sion, Switzerland: The bodies of five of the six Italian nationals killed in the Swiss fire disaster in Crans-Montana were being repatriated on Monday, four days after the tragedy that claimed 40 lives.

The teenagers' coffins were transported from a funeral centre in Sion, southwest Switzerland, to the military section of the city's airport.

Four Swiss police officers carried each coffin into the Italian air force plane. Officers saluted at the foot of the ramp as the cream-coloured coffins were taken aboard, an AFP journalist saw.

The C130 transport plane was due to land first at Milan Linate airport in neighbouring Italy late Monday, from where four coffins will be transferred to Milan itself, Bologna and Genoa, Italian authorities said. The plane was then to fly on to Rome with the fifth coffin.

Swiss authorities believe the fire in Le Constellation, in the upscale Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana, was started in the basement by sparklers attached to bottles, in the early hours of Thursday morning as people celebrated the New Year.