An 18-year-old Swiss man died on Saturday in a Zurich hospital, raising the death toll from a fire that broke out at the Le Constellation bar in the Crans-Montana ski resort on New Year's Eve to 41, local judicial authorities announced.
"An 18-year-old Swiss citizen died in a Zurich hospital on January 31," the attorney general of the Valais canton said in a statement provided to the French News Agency, a month after the tragedy.
The death toll from the fire at the Le Constellation bar has now risen to 41, up from a previous toll of 40, while 116 people were injured. Some of the injured, many with serious injuries, continue to be treated in hospitals in Switzerland, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium.
The 41 dead, aged 14–39, include 23 Swiss (one with French citizenship) and 18 foreigners, including 8 French (one with French-Israeli-British citizenship), 6 Italians (one with Italian and United Arab Emirates citizenship), one Belgian, one Portuguese, one Romanian and one Turk.
Among the injured, 67 are Swiss, 21 French, 10 Italians and 4 Serbs.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the fire broke out due to sparks from "fountain" candles that fell onto the acoustic material on the ceiling of the underground floor of the bar, involving mainly teenagers and young adults.
The investigations will reveal the exact circumstances of the tragedy, whether the bar owners complied with safety standards, and determine responsibilities.
The French couple who own the bar are being investigated for "negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson."
As of Wednesday, the criminal investigation has also included two security officials from the municipality of Crans-Montana, who admitted that they have not conducted annual security and fire inspections since 2019, as legally required.
