Witnesses said the fire broke out at 1.30am in the town’s Le Constellation bar after sparklers or flares were put into champagne bottles. Two women told the French broadcaster BFMTV a bartender carried a female member of staff who was holding one of the bottles.
The flames set fire to the ceiling. Within seconds the blaze had spread, engulfing a crowded basement packed with revellers. Many were teenagers. One of the women described a crowd surge as people desperately tried to escape up a narrow flight of stairs.