Terry Schultz

Prosecutors have placed Jacques Moretti in pretrial detention.

Moretti and his wife and co-owner are being investigated for homicide by negligence and other crimes related to the fire that broke out in their bar in the resort town of Cron, Montana, as revelers celebrated the new year.

They say they will cooperate fully with the probe.

Authorities say there had not been proper safety checks on the establishment and that those responsible for the oversight must also be brought to justice.

The French and Italian presidents joined Swiss mourners at a ceremony to commemorate those who lost their lives in the fire.

More than half were teenagers.

116 people were injured, many of them severely.

For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz.

Flowers and candles are piled along the path leading to La Constellation, the bar in Cremantana, where a New Year's celebration turned into a deadly tragedy.

Swiss authorities say they've identified most of the dead and the injured.

Judicial Police Chief Colonel Pierre-Antoine Lengen said the process of identification has been very difficult.

It requires being extremely meticulous, he said.

We cannot afford to make mistakes in this area, even though we know that waiting, it's extremely difficult to live with.

Victims come from many different countries, including Australia, France and Italy.

Some of Switzerland's neighbours have offered to take in burn victims for treatment.

For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz.

Eyewitness accounts and photos from the scene suggest the ceiling in the bar in Kronmontana, Switzerland, caught fire from lit sparklers being held high by those celebrating the new year.

Outside the site of the tragedy, flowers and candles have been left in memory of the victims.

many of whom are believed to have been young people.

Investigators say the extent of the burns suffered by victims will slow the identification process.