The public prosecutor’s office in southwestern Switzerland’s Wallis canton, where the upmarket ski resort is located, declined to provide further details.
However, a source close to the case confirmed to AFP that the mayor of the Crans-Montana municipality, Nicolas Feraud, is among those under investigation, as reported by Swiss media.
The source said a former municipal councillor in charge of security, and current or former public safety officials, have also been placed under criminal investigation.
The move widens the scope of the investigation into the tragedy, which took place in the early hours of January 1 at Le Constellation, a local bar.
Besides those killed — who were mostly teenagers — a further 115 people were injured in the fire, many of whom remain in hospital.
The municipality triggered outrage on January 6 when it revealed that no annual safety check had been carried out at the bar since 2019.
Nine people are now under criminal investigation.
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They include the bar’s owners, French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti, who are facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.
Crans-Montana’s current head of public safety and a former fire safety officer in the town were also already under criminal investigation.
‘Profoundly shaken’
“We are clearly satisfied with the expansion of proceedings,” said Sebastien Fanti, a lawyer representing four victims’ families.
He told AFP that “other people” would likely be placed under investigation, “on the basis of new evidence”.
“The question now arises whether Mr Feraud can continue to lead this municipality,” he said.
Romain Jordan, another lawyer representing several families, said his clients welcomed “these decisions, which will allow the proceedings to move forward and expedite the answers they so desperately need”.
He said having all those potentially responsible under criminal investigation “is important”.
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Wallis public prosecutors are tasked with determining the exact circumstances of the fire, whether safety regulations were followed and who was responsible for what.
Public prosecutors believe the fire started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to the bar’s basement ceiling, igniting the sound insulation foam.
The Wallis parliament opened proceedings on Monday with a minute of silence in memory of the victims.
“Since January 1, our canton has not been the same,” Wallis president Mathias Reynard said, according to Switzerland’s Keystone-ATS news agency.
“The Crans-Montana tragedy has shattered families. It has devastated our youth… and moved the entire community. It has profoundly shaken us all.”
The cantonal parliament is scheduled to vote later Monday on setting up a foundation endowed with 10 million Swiss francs ($12.8 million).
These funds would be added to others already mobilised by federal and municipal authorities.
The five current and former municipal officials now under criminal investigation, as well as Jacques Moretti, are to be questioned by the public prosecutor’s office between April 7 and 15, another source close to the case told AFP.
At the end of February, 58 survivors were still in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics in Switzerland and abroad.
