New Year’s Eve sparklers may have caused deadly Swiss bar fire: Official
Al Jazeera
Families face agonising wait as investigators work to identify at least 40 people killed, many others wounded in blaze.
Initial investigations suggest that sparklers attached to champagne bottles may have ignited the devastating fire that ripped through a Swiss ski resort bar on New Year’s Eve, killing more than three dozen people, the local prosecutor says.
“Everything suggests that the fire started from the burning candles or ‘Bengal lights’ that had been attached to champagne bottles,” prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said during a news conference on Friday.
“These went too close to the ceiling. From there, a rapid, very rapid and widespread conflagration ensued,” Pilloud told reporters.
At least 40 people were killed and 119 others wounded in the blaze that broke out at the crowded Le Constellation bar in the Swiss Alps town of Crans-Montana in the early hours of Thursday.
The deadly fire has prompted an outpouring of grief among residents, tourists and survivors, many of whom are still seeking information about missing friends and loved ones.
