MILAN, Jan 25 - Rome's outrage was understandable over the release on bail of the owner of the bar where a deadly fire broke out on New Year's Day, Swiss President Guy Parmelin told an Italian daily on Sunday, but added that magistrates act independently.

A blaze that erupted early on January 1 in a bar crowded with teenagers in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, killed 40 people, including six Italian nationals, and injured more than 100 - a tragedy that has reverberated across Italy's media and public opinion.