A number of the 40 people killed in a New Year’s Eve fire in a Swiss bar were trapped behind a locked service door, according to the owner.
Jacques Moretti, 49, the joint proprietor of Le Constellation bar in the Crans-Montana resort with his wife, Jessica, 40, told investigators he did not know why the ground-floor door had been locked from the inside.
RTS, the Swiss TV network, said it was not meant to be an emergency exit, though this was disputed by other media outlets. Former staff have claimed that the owners told them to lock the emergency exits to stop people getting in without going via the main entrance.
Families of the victims of the 2025 Kocani fire in Macedonia lead a candlelight vigil in solidarity with the victims of the Crans-Montana tragedy
GEORGI LICOVSKI/EPA
The Morettis are being investigated on suspicion of homicide through negligence amid claims that their bar failed to meet fire safety standards. Prosecutors are reportedly investigating the soundproof foam in the basement, which is believed to have caught alight when staff held up sparklers.
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They are also said to be investigating the emergency exits and the presence of children at the New Year’s Eve festivities. Half the victims were under 18 and two were 14. A total of 116 people were injured and dozens are still in hospital.
The fire was caused by sparklers attached to bottles, the authorities said
Moretti, who has been remanded in custody, told prosecutors that he had been working in another bar owned by the couple when his wife called to say there was a fire at Le Constellation, according to a transcript of his questioning leaked to Swiss and French media. His wife has been granted bail. He said he went to Le Constellation and tried to open the back service door but found it “closed and locked on the inside”. He said it was not usually locked. Moretti said he and two others forced it open and found several victims on the floor. Among them was Cyane Panine, 24, a waitress who had spent Christmas with the Morettis and was considered a member of the family.
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Moretti said he installed the soundproof foam when he renovated the bar in 2015 and had tested its fire resistance; council staff who had inspected the bar three times had never told him it was a fire risk. Moretti said bar staff regularly held up sparklers.
He conceded that the foam may have caught alight but said “there must have been something else” that caused the fire to spread quickly. He said staff were under orders to refuse under-16s and customers under 18 unless accompanied by an adult, but added: “It’s not impossible that there was a failure.”