The waitress who may have started the fire that killed 40 people, including herself, at a bar in a Swiss ski resort was being exploited by her employers, her parents have alleged.
Cyane Panine, 24, from Sète in southern France, has been named as the waitress who was photographed holding up sparklers in champagne bottles at the Constellation bar in Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve.
Prosecutors have said that the sparklers set light to the soundproofing foam on the basement ceiling. The fire spread rapidly and trapped revellers inside. As well as the 40 people who died, 116 people were injured, many of them seriously.
Jacques Moretti, 49, and Jessica, 40, his wife, the bar owners, have told prosecutors that they considered Panine to be part of their family. Jessica Moretti said she was “like a sister”, according to a transcript of her interrogation.
In a statement issued through Sophie Haenni, their lawyer, Jérôme and Astrid Panine, disputed the Morettis’ claim, saying the couple had worked their daughter so hard that she was in a state of “physical and emotional exhaustion”.
“She complained about her working conditions several times to her parents,” the statement said. It added that Panine had started her working day at a hamburger restaurant also owned by the Morettis, and had finished at the Constellation “in the early hours”.
“Cyane said she had the impression that she was being used,” her parents said. “She explained that she could not comprehend her employers’ lack of empathy and understanding.”
Flowers are laid in Crans-Montana to the victims of the fire
CYRIL ZINGARO/EPA
The statement said that Panine had started legal proceedings against the bar owners before a Swiss employment tribunal to demand a written contract and pay slips, neither of which she had been given.
Panine was photographed wearing a helmet designed to promote Dom Pérignon champagne and sitting on the shoulders of the DJ as she lifted the sparklers thought to have started the fire. Her parents have said that Mrs Moretti told her to wear the helmet. French media outlets have suggested that it prevented her from seeing that the sparks were approaching the soundproof foam.
“Cyane was only following instructions, doing her job and doing it in front of the manager,” her parents said. “She was never informed of the dangerousness of the ceiling and she received no safety training.”
The Morettis are being investigated on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. Mr Moretti, who has a previous conviction for recruiting women in France to work as prostitutes in massage parlours in Switzerland, has been remanded in custody. His wife has been granted bail.
The Pope told families of the victims that faith could help in “the darkest and most painful moments” when he met them at the Vatican on Thursday. He received about 20 relatives, saying in Italian: “I cannot explain to you, dear brothers and sisters, why it was asked of you and your loved ones to face such a trial. The affection and human words of compassion that I offer you today seem very limited and powerless.”
The Morettis’ lawyers declined to comment.