Crans-Montana (Switzerland) (AFP) - Swiss authorities admitted Tuesday that fire safety inspections had not been carried out for the past five years at a bar where 40 people died in a New Year blaze.

The bar owners, who are facing negligent manslaughter charges, meanwhile said they were “overwhelmed with grief”, and would not seek to “evade” their responsibilities.

The inferno at Le Constellation in the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana in Switzerland’s southwestern Wallis region left 116 people wounded, of whom 83 are still in various hospitals. Most of those killed were teenagers.

Prosecutors believe the fire started when people celebrating the New Year raised champagne bottles with sparklers attached, setting light to sound insulation foam on the ceiling in the bar’s basement section.

Although inspections including fire safety were conducted in 2016, 2018 and 2019, “periodic inspections were not conducted between 2020 and 2025. We bitterly regret this,” Crans-Montana mayor Nicolas Feraud told a press conference.

Relatives of the victims received the news “with dismay”, Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing several families, told AFP.

And “we would have liked to hear an apology”, he added.

By law, the municipal fire department should conduct annual inspections in establishments open to the public, Feraud said.

“The courts will determine the influence that such a failure had in the chain of events leading up to the tragedy. The municipality will assume full responsibility as determined by the courts,” the municipality said in a statement.

- Bar owners ‘devastated’ -

French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti owned and managed Le Constellation, which was filled with young partygoers when the blaze erupted at around 1:30 am on Thursday.

In their first public statement since charges were filed against them Saturday for manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, the pair said they were “devastated and overwhelmed with grief”.

They pledged their “full cooperation” with the investigation”, insisting: “we will under no circumstances attempt to evade these matters”.

“No words can adequately describe the tragedy that occurred that night at Le Constellation,” said the statement, published by their lawyers.

“This place of celebration has suddenly become a place of horror and dread.”

Wallis canton’s chief prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud told French radio station RTL that the couple would be “interviewed fairly soon”.

The bar had a capacity limit of 100 people on the ground floor and 100 in the basement.

According to photos taken by the owners in 2015 – during renovations that the municipality said “did not require a permit” – the sound insulation foam had been stuck on the ceiling since then.

A video filmed by a member of the public, screened Monday by Swiss broadcaster RTS, showed that the danger was known years ago.

“Watch out for the foam!”, a bar employee said during 2019 New Year’s Eve celebrations, as champagne bottles with sparklers were brought out.

“The security chiefs who inspected this bar (between 2015 and 2020) should probably have been more careful,” admitted Feraud, who ruled out resigning for the time being.

“I will carry this burden and the sorrow of all these families for the rest of my life,” he concluded, visibly shaken.

- Road to rehabilitation -

The most severely burned survivors have been airlifted to specialist burns centres in Switzerland and abroad, with 46 being treated outside the country.

Twelve are in hospitals in Wallis, with four in Sion who have now been extubated, hospitals director Eric Bonvin told reporters.

“They are now slowly recovering their functionalities. We have high hopes for them,” he said.

Eight patients in nearby Sierre are undergoing reconstructive plastic surgery.

Patients elsewhere are expected to return home to Wallis for the latter stages of their treatment and rehabilitation.

Bonvin underlined the psychosocial aspect of their care, as they learn to live with not only their injuries but also the collective trauma.

“These young patients will be grieving their friends and loved ones who died,” he said.

The average age of those killed was 19. Eight of the dead were aged under 16.

While the majority of those killed were Swiss, nine French and six Italian nationals were among the dead.

Switzerland has declared a national day of mourning for Friday. A memorial ceremony is planned in Wallis, with French President Emmanuel Macron expected to attend.