What to know about the Swiss Alpine bar fire that killed 40

By JAMEY KEATEN, STEFANIE DAZIO and JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss investigators believe sparklers on Champagne bottles started a fire in a bar at an Alpine ski resort that left 40 people dead and another 119 injured during a New Year’s celebration.

Most injuries, many of them serious, occurred when the blaze swept through the crowded bar in southwestern Switzerland in the early hours of Thursday.

Officials believe the sparklers, which shot upward, ignited the blaze when they came too close to the bar’s ceiling. Authorities planned to look into whether the material on the ceiling that was designed to muffle sound conformed with regulations.

The Crans-Montana resort is best known as an international ski and golf venue. Overnight, the Le Constellation bar morphed from a scene of revelry into the site of one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies.