Prosecutors in Italy launch probe into deadly bar fire at Crans-Montana whose 40 casualties included six Italian teens.
Rome prosecutors have opened an investigation into the New Year bar fire at the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana in which 40 people were killed – including six Italian teenagers – and 116 were injured.
The Rome prosecutor’s office, responsible for investigating crimes involving Italian nationals abroad, is looking into possible charges of involuntary homicide and arson by negligence, the same charges levelled against the owners of Le Constellation bar by Swiss investigators.
Authorities in Switzerland allege that the inferno was caused after sparks from flares attached to champagne bottles reached the bar’s ceiling, which quickly caught fire, as young people rang in the new year.
Rome prosecutors will delegate the probe to police officers who are ready to travel to Switzerland to conduct the necessary investigations, according to sources cited by Italian media on Thursday.
The intervention by Rome follows similar moves by Belgium and France, amid claims that the bar had inadequate fire escapes and that local authorities failed to carry out annual safety inspections on the premises for the past five years.
The funerals of the six Italian teens killed in the fire were held on Wednesday, as schools across Italy held a minute’s silence for the victims.
Milan’s Niguarda hospital is currently treating 11 Italians injured in the blaze, including three in a critical condition.
Friday is a national day of mourning in Switzerland, with church bells set to ring out across the country at 14.00.
An official memorial ceremony will be held in Martigny on Friday in the presence of heads of state, including Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni is set to be joined by members of the Italian government and opposition leaders at a memorial Mass in Rome on Friday afternoon, in a moment of national unity.
