Expert report into Crans-Montana tragedy delayed
The expert report into the tragedy in Crans-Montana is taking longer than expected. It is now not expected to be published until at least the end of January.
“I can confirm that the deadline has been extended because of the complexity of the work involved,” Beatrice Pilloud, Attorney General of canton Valais, told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Sunday in response to a report by the SonntagsZeitung.
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The Valais public prosecutor has tasked the Zurich Forensic Institute and the Swiss Safety Centre, an inspection and certification body, with establishing the origin and cause of the fire.
The report, originally due by the end of August, requires further work. The two organisations requested an extension until the end of March from the Valais public prosecutor.
Many questions remain unanswered, and the expert report is being keenly awaited, a source involved in the case said.
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Among the factors being examined are the flammability of the foam used in the basement of the Le Constellation bar and its behaviour when exposed to fire.
The blaze claimed 41 lives and injured 115 people.
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