CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — A fire that tore through a bar at a Swiss ski resort killing at least 40 people likely started when "fountain candle" sparklers were held aloft too close to the ceiling, the region's chief prosecutor said on Friday. The Valais canton's chief prosecutor, Beatrice ​Pilloud, said the sparklers were a leading line of enquiry that looked to be firming ⁠up. "Everything suggests that the fire started from ​the burning sparklers ... that had been attached to champagne bottles and were moved too close to the ceiling," Pilloud told a news conference. Jacques Moretti, one of the owners of the bar, ⁠told Swiss and Italian media on Friday that the renovations had been carried out "in accordance with regulations." He told Swiss newspaper ‍Tribune de Geneve that the establishment had been inspected not annually but three times over the past 10 years.

Source: Daily Sun January 02, 2026 18:47 UTC