French national Jacques Moretti, the manager of the Swiss bar where 40 people were killed in a New Year's Eve fire Jacques has been arrested due to a potential flight risk.
The Valais police declined to comment, although Swiss authorities earlier announced have opened a criminal investigation into the two bar managers, Jacques and his wife Jessica Moretti.
They are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.
In their first public comments since the fire, the Morettis said they were "devastated and overwhelmed with grief," and pledged their "full cooperation" with investigators.
The pair arrived earlier at the Valais public prosecutor's office in Sion for questioning as part of the probe into the blaze.
Moretti's arrest comes on the same day that Switzerland held a nationwide minute of silence to remember the victims of the fire in La Constellation bar in the ski resort town of Crans-Montana.
The silence was followed by church bells across the country ringing for five minutes, at the start of a national day of mourning.
"We owe those affected, their families and loved ones respect, remembrance, and the obligation to do everything we can to ensure that such a catastrophe does not happen again," Swiss President Guy Parmelin wrote in an open letter on Friday.
Parmelin said he bowed his head to those "who were lucky enough to survive the fire disaster, but are now only at the beginning of a long road to recovery.'
Investigators have said they believe sparkling candles atop champagne bottles started the fire at Le Constellation bar when they came too close to the ceiling.
Authorities are investigating whether the ceiling soundproofing complied with regulations and whether candles are permitted for use in the bar.
It emerged earlier this week that fire safety inspections hadn't been carried out since 2019.
Under regional regulations, all buildings in the canton of Valais that are "accessible to the public" must undergo an annual fire safety inspection.
The severity of burns made it difficult to identify some victims, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s.
Representatives of 37 countries, as well as from the EU attended today's commemoration.
Italy was represented by President Sergio Mattarella and France's President Emmanuel Macron will also attend.
The EU was represented by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
SOURCE-Euronews, AP, AFP