Crans-Montana bar fire: Swiss probe widens to 5 more local officials, including mayor
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Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud is among the five current and former local officials under criminal investigation.
PHOTO: REUTERS
GENEVA – Swiss prosecutors on March 9 said five current and former local officials were under criminal investigation over the New Year’s Day bar fire in Crans-Montana that killed 41 people, widening the probe.
The public prosecutor’s office in south-western Switzerland’s Wallis canton, where the upmarket ski resort of Crans-Montana is located, declined to provide further details.
However, a source close to the case confirmed to AFP that Mr Nicolas Feraud, mayor of the Crans-Montana municipality, is among those under suspicion, as reported by Swiss media.
The source said a former municipal councillor in charge of security, a former fire safety officer and his deputy, and a current member of the public safety team, had also been placed under criminal investigation.
The move widens the scope of the investigation into the tragedy, which took place in the early hours of Jan 1 at Le Constellation, a bar in the town.
Besides those killed – who were mostly teenagers – a further 115 people were injured in the blaze, many of whom remain in hospital.
Nine people are now under criminal investigation.
The bar’s owners, French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.
Crans-Montana’s current head of public safety and a former fire safety officer in the town are also under criminal investigation.
Wallis public prosecutors are tasked with determining the exact circumstances of the fire, whether safety regulations were complied with and who was responsible for what.
Public prosecutors believe the fire started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to the bar’s basement ceiling, igniting the sound insulation foam.
The municipality triggered outrage on Jan 6 when it revealed that no annual safety check had been carried out at the bar since 2019.
The five current and former municipal officials now under criminal investigation, as well as Mr Jacques Moretti, are to be questioned by the public prosecutor’s office between April 7 and 15, another source close to the case told AFP.
At the end of February, 58 survivors were still in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics in Switzerland and abroad. AFP
