By Emma Farge
GENEVA, March 9 (Reuters) – Swiss prosecutors have extended their investigation into a fatal ski bar fire that killed 41 people, mostly teenagers, and added the mayor of the ski town of Crans-Montana to the list of suspects, a document showed.
Mayor Nicolas Feraud is named as a defendant in one of the prosecutors’ documents seen by Reuters summoning him for questioning on April 13. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Feraud, in his 50s, has previously admitted that the municipality had missed multiple annual safety checks. “We are deeply sorry. We had no indication that the checks had not been done as requested,” Feraud told reporters in January.
The Swiss prosecutor’s office in the Valais canton confirmed to Reuters that new individuals had been placed under investigation in the case involving suspected crimes including negligent homicide, without naming them.
The fire that tore through “Le Constellation” bar on January 1 was one of the worst disasters in modern Swiss history and has tested relations with neighbouring Italy, which lost six of its nationals in the blaze.
Many young people remain hospitalised with burn injuries.
The tragedy has also sent chills through the lucrative tourism sector. The affluent town of Crans-Montana is popular among French, Italian and American tourists and well known both for its sunny, south-facing ski slopes and its golf courses.
Prosecutors’ inquiries initially focused on the French bar owners who remain under investigation. The probe was expanded in late January to also include a current and a former local official.
Bar owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti have both voiced grief over the fire and said they would cooperate with the probe.
If convicted, defendants could face a maximum penalty of 4-1/2 years in prison.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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