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, but that the council was “profoundly sorry”. 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.”

“We’re profoundly sorry about that and I know how hard that will be for the families.”

“I’m not resigning, no, and I don’t want to,” he later added.

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.

Reuters

People in the area have been leaving tributes to the victims of the deadly New Year’s Day fire

When the fire occurred on New Year’s Day, the bar seemed to have many more people in it than legally permitted, which Feraud said was the responsibility of the managers of Le Constellation to regulate.

Feraud said the maximum capacity was 200 people, with emergency exits designed to cater for 100 people on each side of its two levels. However he did not know if the exit on the basement level was working.

Swiss prosecutors have placed the two bar managers under criminal investigation, which local media have named as French couple, Jacques and Jessica Moretti.

They are both suspected of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, the prosecutors’ office in Valais said.

Prosecutors have said they believe the fire started when people celebrating the New Year raised champagne bottles with sparklers attached, setting light to sound-insulating foam on the ceiling of the basement bar.

Feraud said the use of sound-proofing material on the ceiling of the bar and allowing sparklers in the venue was extremely negligent.

Swiss national broadcaster RTS has shown footage from 2019 of partygoers holding bottles with sparklers. An employee warns them to be careful of the “mousse” – the French word for the acoustics foam panelling.

Questioned on the video, Feraud said it was likely no-one in the council saw the images and he wished it had been brought to his attention at the time as he would have investigated.