Candle-filled memorial to 41 people killed in Swiss nightclub blaze destroyed by fire

Dozens of people including a former British schoolgirl were killed in the blaze on New Year’s Day

A memorial for the victims of a fire at a New Year's party in Switzerland went up in flames on Sunday, likely caused by candles left inside.

The makeshift monument had been set up to honour the 41 people killed on 1 January at Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, a Swiss resort town popular with British skiers.

Valais police said the tent, filled with candles, flowers and messages, caught alight shortly before 6am on Sunday, damaging some of the tributes.

“Thanks to the swift intervention of the emergency services, the fire was brought under control quickly,” a statement read, adding that nobody was injured. “Several memorial items were damaged by the flames. The book of condolences was saved.”

Valais police said the book of condolences was saved and that nobody was hurt in the blaze (Valais Police)

The fire is believed to have started from candles left on a table in the centre of the memorial, according to initial reports.

Police have ruled out the involvement of a third party, adding that the memorial is being rebuilt.

Families are still awaiting the results of an investigation into the New Year’s Day fire, which killed dozens and injured 115 people.

Those killed in the disaster were aged 14 to 39, with only four aged over 24. A former British schoolgirl was previously named among those killed in the blaze.

Many of those injured are still being treated in hospital for severe burns.

The fire was caused by sparklers carried by a bar worker sitting on the shoulders of a colleague and spread within seconds. Some victims were found collapsed next to a locked rear exit, according to police transcripts.

The memorial was set up to honour the victims in the days after the tragedy (AP)

Others were piled together near the main exit, which became a fatal chokepoint, while others died in the basement before they could flee, according to the transcripts and photographs from the case files.

Four people are under investigation, bar owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti and a former and a current local official. Authorities have acknowledged that the bar had not undergone safety checks for five years.

The Morettis and the town's mayor, who admitted missed inspections, have expressed regret.

At the end of January, hundreds of people marched alongside grieving parents through the lakeside town of Lutry near Lausanne, carrying a large banner demanding “truth and justice”.

"Today, we are just asking for justice and truth and afterwards we will mourn," Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, who lost her 17-year-old son Arthur in the fire, told a crowd of people carrying white roses on 31 January.

The fire has tested relations with neighbouring Italy, which lost nationals in the blaze and has protested the release on bail of the bar's owner.