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A memorial for the victims of a deadly fire at a new year party in Switzerland caught fire early on Sunday, probably sparked by candles left burning inside, police have said.
The memorial was a makeshift tribute to the 41 people killed and the 115 injured in the fire that erupted in the early hours of 1 January at Le Constellation bar in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana, which was packed with mainly teenagers and young adults.
Laden with flowers, candles and messages of condolence, it had been set up near the site of the tragedy. It caught alight shortly before 6am on Sunday, regional police in Switzerland’s south-western canton of Valais said in a statement.
Images broadcast by Swiss public broadcaster RTS on Sunday showed the blackened top of a white, igloo-like tarpaulin erected over the memorial to protect it from the weather, visible behind a white screen and police tape.
“Thanks to the rapid intervention of the emergency services, the fire was quickly brought under control,” police said.
No one was injured in the fire at the memorial, they said, though “several commemorative objects were damaged by the flames”.
A large book of remembrance, filled with messages of condolence left by those who have visited the memorial over the past five weeks, had been saved, the statement said.
Police said an investigation had been opened into what caused the blaze at the memorial, which had initially been placed in front of the burned-out bar but which had recently been moved a bit farther away.
“According to initial reports, the fire started near the candles placed on a table in the centre of the memorial,” the statement said. “At this stage, third-party involvement can be ruled out.”
Investigators believe that the new year inferno at Le Constellation started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to a ceiling in the bar crowded with revellers, igniting sound insulation foam.
The French couple who co-owned the bar, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.
Crans-Montana’s head of public safety and a former local fire safety officer are also under criminal investigation in connection with the blaze at the bar, which had not undergone mandatory annual fire inspections since 2019.
Following weeks of harsh criticism of local and regional authorities’ handling of the crisis and the investigation, family members voiced consternation upon learning of the fire at the memorial.
“What to say?” Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, whose 16-year-old son Arthur Brodard was among those who died at Le Constellation, posted on Facebook over a link to a report about the memorial fire. “It is the municipality’s responsibility to ensure a memorial that is secure.”
