A judge in Switzerland has ordered that one of the two co-owners of the ski resort bar where 40 people died in a fire on New Year's Eve be kept in detention for 90 days.
Swiss prosecutors have argued that Jacques Moretti, a French national, is a potential flight risk. He and his wife Jessica, who is also French, are suspected of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence, and arson by negligence.
The blaze at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana also left 116 people injured. Many of the victims were aged under 20.
The fire is believed to have been started by sparklers in champagne bottles raised too close to the ceiling during celebrations.
Authorities acknowledged last week that the bar in the popular ski resort had not undergone safety checks for five years.
The news that the bar had not been inspected for five years has shocked families of the victims. Venues like Le Constellation should have been checked annually, but Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud said on Tuesday he could not explain why this had not been done for so long at that bar.
Most of the victims of the fire were young - eight were under the age of 16. Many of the injured have severe burns, with eighty remaining in hospitals in Switzerland and other European countries.
