Fire apparently started by sparklers, prosecutor says
Valais attorney general Beatrice Pilloud says the fire appears to have started from “sparklers put on bottles of champagne that was moved too close to the ceiling”.
She says: “Everything leads us to believe that the fire was started from sparkling candles or sparklers that were put on bottles of champagne that were moved too close to the ceiling.
“From that a blaze began very quickly … There are videos that have been analysed; there are several people who have been interviewed and reports have been made.”
Lists have been provided of those who were present on New Year’s Eve, she adds.
The investigation’s next steps will focus on materials used in the bar, the operating permits, safety measures such as fire extinguishers and emergency exits and the number of people in attendance, she says.
“The next steps of the investigate will focus in particular on the work carried out inside the bar, the materials utilised, the operating permits, the safety measures – by which I mean extinguishers, emergency exits and the resources to fight fires … the number of people on the site and the number of people the bar is permitted to receive,” she adds.
Updated at 09.40 EST
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A missing persons page has been set up on Instagram, with notices posted for those who still have not been found since the fire.
The bio on the page reads:
Temporary account that will be closed as soon as everyone has been found. Please DM us as soon as a notice can be removed.
So far, 50 notices have already been shared on the page, which has accrued more than 33,000 followers.
Axel, who was in the basement bar where the fire started, told reporters he did not know how he “miraculously” made it out.
He turned over a table and hid behind it to protect himself from the fire, before making his way upstairs.
“We couldn’t see anything, I was half choking,” he told the Reuters news agency.
He used a table, and then his feet, to break a window to get out, avoiding what he said was a single door that was too narrow for the many people trying to escape.
Updated at 11.56 EST
What we learnt from today’s press conference
Valais attorney general Beatrice Pilloud said the fire appears to have started from “sparklers put on bottles of champagne that was moved too close to the ceiling”.
Valais police chief Frédéric Gisler confirmed of the 119 injured people, 113 have been formally identified, while six others are as yet unknown. Among the injured are 71 Swiss, 14 French citizens, 11 Italians, four Serbs, as well as one individual each from Bosnia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland and Portugal. Fourteen of the injured’s nationalities have not yet been confirmed.
He said the death toll still stands at 40, with formal identification continuing.
Pilloud was asked by a journalist if the French owners of the bar have been told not to leave the country. She said she would not talk directly about the couple, adding: “The people who have been interviewed, they are not interviewed under caution. If there is a flight risk, it is possible for us to take the necessary measures, but for the moment no criminal liability has been determined.”
She said the most important thing is the investigation and to determine the responsibilities. “We don’t want to put any limitations on what private individuals can do or buy,” she added.
She added that she did not know if it will ever be possible to have an exact answer on the number of people in the building at the time of the fire.
Pilloud said the investigation is looking at the acoustic foam pictured on the ceiling of the basement venue to see whether it complied with regulations or was the source of the fire. It is not possible to give an answer on that today, she said. “It is essential that we do not make any assumptions,” she added.
Pilloud said the investigation has looked at “various videos” of the incident published in the media and online. Asked about social media footage from the fire, she said: “We’ve watched various videos that have been published in the media.”
ShareMost of those injured in ‘serious condition’
Reynard says the majority of injured treated at the site of the fire were in a serious condition.
Meanwhile, Roten adds that out of the people treated, the majority were “seriously injured”.
A journalist is now asking about the safety rules in place for the venue.
Pilloud says the most important thing is the investigation and to determine the responsibilities.
“We don’t want to put any limitations on what private individuals can do or buy,” she adds.
And with that, the press conference has come to an end.
Updated at 10.32 EST
Asked about the 14 victims whose nationalities are unknown, Ganzer says that police have been able to identify them by name but not formally.
“As the attorney general said … these figures will change and evolve over the days to come and we will give updates,” he says.
Share‘No criminal liability has been determined’: attorney general
Pilloud is asked by a journalist if the French owners of the bar have been told not to leave the country.
She says she will not talk directly about the couple, adding: “The people who have been interviewed, they are not interviewed under caution.
“If there is a flight risk, it is possible for us to take the necessary measures, but for the moment no criminal liability has been determined.”
Updated at 10.38 EST
Pilloud says the investigation has looked at “various videos” of the incident published in the media and online.
Asked about social media footage from the fire, she says: “We’ve watched various videos that have been published in the media.
“The phone footage was filmed outside by people who wanted to help but we haven’t completed our analysis of it.”
Updated at 10.32 EST
‘Anyone can buy’ the sparklers used in the bar, officials say
In response to a question about the identification of the 40 people who have died, Frédéric Gisler says:
“At this stage we have 40 victims and identification is continuing … That is the absolute priority.”
Asked about whether any permit would have been needed for the sparklers, Pilloud says: “These are birthday candles you can buy in a shop, anyone can have access to them.”
Updated at 10.32 EST
Pilloud says she does not know if it will ever be possible to have an exact answer on the number of people in the building at the time of the fire.
The theory that the fire was started by sparklers in champagne bottles is “favoured and maybe confirmed”, she says.
Asked about a perceived lack of information for the victims’ families, Bonvin says “it is clear we have not answered the concerns of families if they wondered if someone was dead or not, if they were receiving care elsewhere, that is not in our remit”.
It is clear that it is difficult for everyone to get precise information, he adds, given that the immediate concern of the response has been to save lives.
Share‘Many people were not able to find the exits’: security chief
Pilloud says the investigation is looking at the acoustic foam pictured on the ceiling of the basement venue to see whether it complied with regulations or was the source of the fire.
It is not possible to give an answer on that today, she says. “It is essential that we do not make any assumptions,” she adds.
Ganzer adds that inspection of the buildings in the responsibility of the cantons, which are supposed to be carried out every year.
With relation to the bar, there were no defects raised in its most recent inspection, he says.
The building had an emergency exit in addition to the main staircase, he says, but the smoke may have made it hard for people to see.
Ganzer says: “This building had an emergency exit – there was not just one door, even if during the fire it would appear that people left through the main exit, but this building was indeed equipped with [another] emergency exit.
“But you can imagine that during a blaze, with smoke, which within just a few moments makes it impossible for them to see … a majority of people were not able to find the exits.”
Updated at 10.27 EST
Valais chief prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud is summing up by saying the figures may differentiate from others previously given.
Some victims came to the emergency centre and found their injuries were worse than they first feared, she says.
Pillaud, asked about the varying numbers of injured reported in the last two days, says: “There are different figures that have been given to you today. These are not definitive figures. The figures are perhaps different to other figures that you have heard: that is due quite simply to the changes in the number of injured … there are people who came themselves to the hospitals, to the emergency room, realising that their injuries were more important, which increased the number of those injured.
“The figures we have shared with you today are of people who have finally and formally been identified.
“I would really like to thank everybody here for the excellent work, the collaboration that we have to successfully carry out the investigation, to help the families and to save those people,” she concludes. “This support is essential.”
It looks like questions are now being taken from journalists in the room. Keep following for any updates that emerge from that.
Updated at 10.09 EST
The type of lesions suffered by the majority of victims “will need to be treated for a long time”, Bonvin says.
Being treated close to their loved ones is an essential part of their recovery too, he adds.
In the two hours following the start of the response, many colleagues spontaneously came back to work to help teams cope with the influx of patients.
Many were worried about whether their own loved ones were among the victims, Bonvin says.
Eric Bonvin, director of the regional hospital in Sion where many patients were taken, is now talking.
He says the population in Valais was “doubled” during the festive period, with the emergency centre already busy with “ordinary injuries” on the night of the fire.
All of the injured from the fire did receive care, he says. “This developed a lot … we moved to a stabilisation phase but we also need to understand that this is a period that is quite delicate as families start to make contact with their loved ones,” he says.
He is asking the media to not access the hospitals to speak to victims at this moment and that “limits” are being put in place to help patients.
Speaking of his hospital in Sion, 55 victims were received, with 13 able to go home, 11 still in hospital -including four in critical care and three receiving surgery – and 28 transferred elsewhere.
Ganzer adds that those caring for the victims, such as first respondents, “will not be abandoned” and will receive care themselves.
He hands over to Fredy-Michel Roten, director of the Cantonal Valais Rescue Organisation, who thanks all partners in responding to the tragedy.
Roten adds that there is “significant solidarity” from hospitals who took in the victims.
He says: “Care of the burns is complex and can take several weeks or several months … given the number of injured and the lack of places available, patients were first of all distributed to hospitals in Switzerland that have intensive care but not necessarily specialist burns units.”
Some patients will now be transferred to specialist hospital units elsewhere in Europe, he adds.
Updated at 09.55 EST