Swiss authorities have opened an investigation into the managers of the bar where a fire at a New Year’s party left 40 people dead.
The pair are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence, police said in a statement on Saturday (local time).
They said that the investigation was opened on Friday night but did not give further details.
More than 100 people were injured in the blaze that broke out at about 1.30am on Thursday local time at Le Constellation bar in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana.
The process of identifying the dead and injured was still underway, leading to an agonising wait for relatives desperate for news.
Investigators said that they believed sparkling candles atop champagne bottles ignited the fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.
Many of the injured were in their teens to mid-20s, police said. Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar.
Police said that they had identified the first four victims of the fire, with the bodies of two Swiss females aged 21 and 16, and two Swiss males aged 18 and 16, returned to their families.
“Investigations and identification procedures concerning the other victims, both deceased and injured, are continuing,” the Valais cantonal police said on their website.
Forty people were killed after becoming trapped in the fire. Another 119 from Switzerland, France, Italy and other countries were injured.
Co-owners Jacques Moretti and his wife Jessica were interviewed by the Swiss authorities over the fire.
The Times reported that the Morettis – who took over Le Constellation in 2015 – refurbished it themselves, with Moretti telling a local newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, that he spent six months transforming it into a buzzy night spot for the apres-ski crowd during the upmarket resort’s busy winter season.
However, Moretti has insisted that he and his wife did not break any safety rules.
“Everything was done according to the rules,” the 49-year-old told a Swiss-French media outlet.
He added that the bar had been inspected “three times in 10 years”, before ending the call with a reporter from 24 Heures, saying he did not “feel well”.
Images of the moment when the fire started in the basement of Le Constellation show revellers waving sparkler-topped champagne bottles as the ceiling catches alight.
The sparklers were lit despite a general ban on fireworks imposed earlier in the week by the municipality of Crans-Montana because of safety concerns.
The town authorities had warned on Tuesday of an “extremely high” fire risk because of a lack of rainfall for more than a month, creating unusually dry conditions.
On Friday, Antonio Tajani, the Italian Foreign Minister, criticised the use of sparklers as he laid flowers at the scene for Italian victims.
“The use of fireworks in the venue, however small, does not seem to me to be a responsible choice,” he said.
A teenager who used to live in Hertfordshire, Britain, and was educated at a prestigious private school in the area is among those reported as missing.
Charlotte Niddam, 15, has not been heard from since the fire broke out at the bar.
She and her family are thought to have moved to Switzerland last year and Charlotte has been working as a babysitter in the ski resort.
A statement issued by Immanuel College near Watford, where Charlotte was previously a pupil, confirmed Charlotte was missing.
The statement said: “We are reaching out with an urgent request for our school community to come together in support of Charlotte Niddam.
“The families have asked that we all keep them in our thoughts and prayers during this extremely difficult time.
“We are all praying for a miracle for Charlotte and the others, and want the families to feel the full strength of the Immanuel College community’s support.”
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.