Swiss ski bar not inspected for five years before deadly fire

The Swiss bar that was the scene of a fire which killed 40 people and injured 116 had not undergone safety checks for five years, authorities have said.

The mayor of Crans-Montana, Nicolas Feraud, told a Tuesday news conference that he could not explain why Le Constellation bar had not been checked in so long, the venues should have been checked annually.

"We regret that - we owe it to the families and we will accept the responsibility," he said.

He added that sparklers - which are believed to have caused the fire when they were raised too close to the ceiling - will be banned in local venues.

Local authorities will now bring in an external contractor to inspect and audit all 128 venues in the area.

Feraud conceded there was a team of five people inspecting more than 10,000 buildings in Crans-Montana and could not explain why the bar had not been inspected since 2019.

Taking repeated questions on why the bar had not been checked in so long, Feraud said: "I have no answer for you today."

Feraud said while inspections of the facility were conducted in 2016, 2018 and 2019, there were none from 2020 to 2025.

Feraud said it would be "down to the judges" to decide whether members of the local authority would be included in a criminal investigation that has been opened by Swiss prosecutors.