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Crans-Montana Fire Inquiry Faces Scrutiny as Italy Opens Parallel Investigation

Victims’ lawyers allege procedural failures, prompting a parallel inquiry in Italy.

Overview

  • Swiss prosecutors are investigating the bar owners for negligent homicide, with the owner in pretrial detention and his wife under travel and identification restrictions.
  • Criticism intensified after reports that some victims were not autopsied in Switzerland, with Italy confirming no autopsies for six Italian victims, commissioning its own examinations and seeking a role in the Swiss case.
  • Victims’ attorneys fault delayed evidence seizures, including phones, and have launched a portal to collect witness videos, photos and documents.
  • New reports highlight potential evidence gaps, including a reported ten-hour window before the owner’s initial questioning, missing or discarded records attributed to “floods,” and allegations of attempted destruction of digital traces.
  • Safety and evacuation practices are under scrutiny after the owner acknowledged a locked service door, witnesses described an obstructed emergency exit and flammable ceiling foam, and multiple accounts point to party sparklers as the likely ignition source.