Swiss bar where fatal New Year's fire broke out had last safety inspection in 2019

Fire safety inspections hadn’t been carried out for several years at the bar where a fire that broke out at a New Year’s party left 40 people dead and over 100 injured, local authorities said Tuesday

Fire safety inspections hadn’t been carried out for several years at the bar where a fire that broke out at a New Year’s party left 40 people dead and over 100 injured, local authorities said Tuesday.

Investigators have said they believe festive sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire at Le Constellation in the resort town of Crans-Montana when they came too close to the ceiling.

Authorities are looking into whether soundproofing material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar.

Add NBC News to GoogleChampagne sparklers likely started Swiss bar fire, officials say01:36Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.

Regional authorities have said that safety inspections were the responsibility of the municipality. On Tuesday, the head of Crans-Montana’s municipal government, Nicolas Féraud, said that there had been inspections of Le Constellation up to 2019.