Evening briefing Friday 2nd January

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0:35This is the Times' evening briefing on Friday 2nd January. Officials in Switzerland have announced that 71 of those injured in the bar fire in the Swiss ski resort of Carmontane were Swiss citizens, with 14 French and 11 Italians. Student Ferdinand de Berdier, who is 19, told us how he escaped and re-entered the venue twice to try and save people from the fire that's killed at least 40 people. I was looking for my brother and my girlfriend and my friends, and I couldn't think to let them stay in the fire when I was alive outside. And Swiss officials have said that the probable cause of the nightclub fire was party goers holding champagne bottles in the air close to the ceiling with sparklers attached to the bottles.

1:22Hugo Daniel is a Sunday Times reporter who's in Kras, Montana. It was kind of like a show to bring out a bottle with something on it with the sparkler lit up. What it looks like happened is a waitress was put on the shoulders of another member of staff with one of these, and that's how the sparks caught the roof. Meanwhile, tributes are being paid to the first victim of the Swiss ski resort fire to be named. He was Emanuele Gallipini, a teenage golfer from Italy. Officials say at least 40 people have now died in the blaze with 119 Swiss injuries. Swiss Prosecutor General Beatrice Pilo says investigators will consider whether anyone's criminally responsible.

1:57If this is the case and if these people are alive, investigations will be opened for fire by negligence, homicide by negligence and injuries by negligence. Two men have been remanded in custody after appearing in court charged in connection with the death of a man in his 80s who was struck by a car in Kent and carried on the vehicle for nearly a mile. Retired dental surgeon Thomas Wallace was struck by Gray Mercedes Estate in Gillingham last week. The car was found nearby and the two occupants had fled on foot, according to Kent Police. Prosecutors say that the vehicle's front and rear license plates were removed and disposed of after the collision.

2:39And the racing world is mourning the death of legendary trainer Ian Balding at 87, the man who famously guided Mill Reef to Epsom Derby glory and established the Balding family as a cornerstone of British horse racing. His daughter, Claire Balding, said that her dad was funny and one of a kind, and that he loved his dogs, his horses and his family, probably in that order. And the Met Office has extended weather warnings. Forecasters say snow and ice could last into the weekend and next week. Scotland is expected to be the worst hit, where amber snow warnings are in force, and warnings have been upgraded to yellow for snow and ice and are in place elsewhere until Monday.

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