#mass-casualty

#mass-casualty

Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited a fatal fire at a Swiss ski resort when they came too close to the ceiling of a bar crowded with New Year's Eve revelers. Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles, which give off a stream of upward-shooting sparks, were permitted for use in the bar.

The blaze broke out around 1.30am on Thursday. Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside the bar when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders as she held a lighted candle in a bottle. The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling, they told the broadcaster. People frantically tried to escape from the basement nightclub up a narrow flight of stairs and through a narrow door, causing a crowd surge, one of the women said.