Two days after the fire, in which 119 people suffered injuries, including severe burns, officials were still \u2060trying to identify many of those killed. Attention has also turned to how one of Switzerland\u2019s worst tragedies could have occurred.<\/p>\n
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The bar\u2019s two managers are suspected \u200bof offences including homicide by negligence, causing bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, prosecutors in Valais, the canton \u200dthat is home to the bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana, said in a statement on Saturday. They did not name the pair.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an enormous tragedy. We\u2019re all so sorry that this had to happen,\u201d Beat Jans, the Swiss justice minister, told reporters, standing in front of the cordoned-off bar, Le Constellation.<\/p>\n
He said temperatures during the \u200dblaze must have reached \u201c500, \u2060600 degrees [Celsius, or 900-1,100 Fahrenheit]\u201d.<\/p>\n
The managers of the resort were reported by multiple outlets to be a man and a woman from France. The man is believed to have been away while the woman was inside the bar and suffered burns to her arm, according to the French broadcaster BFM TV.<\/p>\n
Switzerland\u2019s Tribune de Geneve reported that the man told the newspaper the bar had been checked \u201cthree times in 10 years\u201d and that \u201ceverything was done within the standards\u201d.<\/p>\n
The couple reportedly have two other establishments, one in Crans-Montana and another in nearby Lens.<\/p>\n
The two have already been questioned along with many others involved in the tragedy, according to police, who said they continue to gather information on what transpired at the New Year\u2019s event and what work had been carried out in the bar in the past.<\/p>\n
Beatrice Pilloud, the chief prosecutor of Valais, said indications were that the fire had started because sparklers \u200cgot too close to the ceiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom there, a rapid, very rapid and widespread blaze ensued,\u201d she said on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Many of the victims, including the dead and some of the missing, are teenagers, with survivors transferred to local hospitals and those in neighbouring countries for treatment.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/afp_69598e3b6d84-1767476795.jpg\")
A person looks at a makeshift memorial following a fire at Le Constellation bar during New Year\u2019s Eve celebrations, which killed 40 people and injured 119, in the Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana, on January 3, 2026 [AFP]<\/p>\n