Initial investigations ‍suggest that the fire that tore ​through a New Year’s Eve party at a bar in the Swiss resort town of Crans-Montana began when ‘fountain candles’ attached ⁠to champagne bottles were carried aloft too close to ‌the ‍ceiling, the local ‍prosecutor said on ‌Friday.

“Everything suggests ⁠that the ​fire started from the burning candles or ‘Bengal lights’ that had been attached ​to champagne bottles. These went too close to the ceiling. From ⁠there, a rapid, ⁠very rapid and widespread ‌conflagration ensued,” prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud told a news conference.

Swiss police confirmed that about 40 people died in the blaze at Le Constellation and 115 were injured. Italian authorities put the death toll at 47.