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‘We deeply regret this’: Swiss authorities’ admission about a bar where 40 people died in a New Year’s Eve fire
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‘We deeply regret this’: Swiss authorities’ admission about a bar where 40 people died in a New Year’s Eve fire

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Swiss authorities have admitted that no fire safety inspections were carried out in the past five years at a bar where 40 people died in a New Year’s fire.
The bar owners, who are charged with negligent homicide, said they were “overwhelmed with grief” and would not try to “shirk” their responsibilities.
The inferno at Le Constellation in the alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana in the south-west of Valais in Switzerland injured 116 people, of whom 83 are still in various hospitals. Most of the dead were teenagers.
Prosecutors believe the fire started when people celebrating New Year’s held champagne bottles with sparklers attached to them, lighting up soundproofing foam on the ceiling in the bar’s basement.

Although inspections, including fire safety, were carried out in 2016, 2018 and 2019, “no periodic inspections were carried out between 2020 and 2025. We deeply regret this,” Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Feraud told a news conference.

Relatives of the victims received the news “with dismay,” Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing several families, told Agence France-Presse.
And “we would have liked to hear an apology,” he said.
By law, the municipal fire department must conduct annual inspections at establishments open to the public, Feraud said.

“The courts will determine what impact such a failure had on the chain of events that led to the tragedy. The municipality will assume full responsibility as determined by the courts,” the municipality said in a statement.

Bar owners ‘devastated’

French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti owned and managed Le Constellation, which was filled with young partygoers when the fire broke out.
In their first public statement since charges of negligent manslaughter, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson were brought against them, the couple said they were “devastated and overwhelmed with grief”.
They pledged their “full cooperation” with the investigation and stressed: “We will not attempt to evade these matters under any circumstances.”
“No words can adequately describe the tragedy that occurred that evening at Le Constellation,” said the statement, published by their lawyers.

“This party place has suddenly become a place of horror and fear.”

Wallis Canton’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, told French radio station RTL that the couple would be interviewed “quite soon”.
The bar had a capacity limit of 100 people on the ground floor and 100 in the basement.

According to photos taken by the owners in 2015 – during renovations the municipality said “no permit required” – the sound insulation foam had been stuck to the ceiling ever since.

A video filmed by a member of the public, shown by Swiss broadcaster RTS, showed the danger was known years ago.
“Beware of the foam!” said a bar worker during the 2019 New Year’s Eve celebration, as champagne bottles with sparklers were brought out.
“The security chiefs who inspected this bar [between 2015 and 2020] probably should have been more careful,” admitted Feraud, who ruled out a resignation for the time being.
“I will carry this burden and the sorrow of all these families for the rest of my life,” he concluded, visibly shaken.

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