DEATH TOLL RISES TO 41 IN SWISS NEW YEAR BAR BLAZE. (PHOTO).

 Death toll rises to 41 in Swiss New Year bar blaze

An 18-year-old who was critically injured in the New Year bar fire at the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana has died, Swiss authorities said Sunday, raising the death toll from one of the deadliest disasters in modern Swiss history to 41. The Swiss national had been hospitalized in Zurich and died on Saturday, according to a statement from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Canton of Valais, which did not release additional details.

Most of those killed in the blaze at the Le Constellation bar were teenagers, and some of the 116 people injured remain hospitalized with severe burns. The latest victim was a young man who lived near the western city of Lausanne, according to officials familiar with the case.

On Saturday, hundreds of mourners marched with grieving parents through the lakeside town of Lutry near Lausanne, carrying a large banner calling for “truth and justice.” Many participants held white roses as they walked in silence.

“Today, we are just asking for justice and truth, and afterwards we will mourn,” said Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, who lost her 17-year-old son, Arthur, in the fire, as she addressed the crowd.

The tragedy has also strained relations with neighboring Italy, which lost several nationals in the fire and has protested the decision to release the bar’s owner on bail. Swiss authorities have said they will allow Italian prosecutors access to evidence collected during the investigation.