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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Angela Giuffrida in Crans-Montana and Jon Henley

Sparklers held near ceiling started Swiss ski resort fire, investigators believe

CransMontana Le Constellation RTL
This image, which has been circulating online, appears to show the point the ceiling caught fire inside Le Constellation nightclub. The image may have been subjected to some digital enhancement and subsequently the Guardian has blurred some identifying personal details.
This image, which has been circulating online, appears to show the point the ceiling caught fire inside Le Constellation nightclub. The image may have been subjected to some digital enhancement and subsequently the Guardian has blurred some identifying personal details. Photograph: unknown

Investigators believe fountain sparklers mounted on champagne bottles and held too close to the ceiling sparked the deadly fire that tore through a crowded bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people and injuring more than 100.

“Everything suggests the fire started from the burning candles or ‘Bengal lights’ that had been attached to champagne bottles,” the prosecutor Béatrice Pilloud said on Friday. “These went too close to the ceiling.”

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