Sparklers on champagne bottles have been identified by officials as the likely cause of a deadly fire at a Swiss ski resort, as pictures of teenagers still unaccounted for began to emerge.
At least 40 were killed and a further 119 were injured in the blaze that swept through the Constellation bar in Crans-Montana in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Read more: Everything we know about ski resort fire
A former Hertfordshire schoolgirl is among the teenagers still missing.
The severity of burns is making it harder to identify the dead and injured. Experts are relying on DNA samples for some cases, in a process that could take weeks.
Scrutiny turns to safety set-up and fire’s cause
On Friday officials tentatively confirmed a theory circulating online about the cause of the fire.
“It would appear that the fire started from sparkler candles, otherwise known as flares, which were placed on top of champagne bottles,” Valais attorney general Beatrice Pilloud told a news conference.
Images shared on social media showed a group of people with sparklers affixed to bottles that appear to be setting fire to the ceiling, and a woman on a man’s shoulders holding up champagne bottles with sparklers in them.
But Ms Pilloud said it was too soon to say whether a foam-like material on the ceiling, possibly sound-proofing, had contributed to the spread of the fire.
A retired fire firefighter told Sky News the same type of material used to clad Grenfell Tower was likely coating the ceiling of the basement bar.
Having reviewed images and videos circulating online, Steve Dudney said he believed the foam that ignited was highly flammable polyurethane, which should be “nowhere where there are uncontrolled naked flames”.
Ms Pilloud said the bar’s owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, a French couple, were interviewed as “people called to give information”, not under caution.
There are many outstanding questions about the nature of exits and about safety protocols in the bar. It had more than one emergency exit, but it wasn’t found by victims.
Agonising wait for families
The severity of the damage means details about the victims have emerged in instalments, leaving relatives in a painstaking limbo.
Some 22 young patients are in critical condition at Lausanne University Hospital.
The injured included 71 from Switzerland, 14 French nationals and 11 Italians, along with citizens of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland, according to Frederic Gisler, police commander of the Valais region.
The nationalities of 14 people were unclear.
Who has been named so far?
Those still unaccounted for include Charlotte Niddam, who previously attended Immanuel College, a private school in Hertfordshire. Her nationality has not been confirmed.
According to the Crans-Montana resort website, she had been working as a babysitter in the area.
Italian national Emanuele Galeppini, 17 and a golf prodigy, was the first victim to be reported dead, with news confirmed by the Italian Golf Federation earlier on Friday.
Another teenager who is still missing is Arthur Brodard. CNN reported that the Swiss 16-year-old joined around 10 of his friends on New Year’s Eve at Le Constellation.
His parents Laetitia Brodard and her husband Christophe, who are from the Swiss city of Lausanne, said the group often met in the resort town.
“We are so empty,” Mr Brodard said. “We think he could still be alive, so we still have hope of finding him.”
He added: “They ordered a bottle of champagne with a sparkler. One or two minutes later, it was the apocalypse.”
Alice Kallergis, a 15-year-old girl from Greece, is also reportedly missing. Her brother, Romain, told protothema.gr: “We still know nothing about my sister.”
The family of another young person has appealed for information.
Emilie Pralong has been missing since the fire, according to posts on Facebook.
