US EditionSwiss Police Probing Crans-Montana Ski Resort Fire Reportedly to Question Le Constellation Bar's French Owners
The French owners face manslaughter and arson charges after a New Year's Eve fire killed 40 and injured 116 at their bar, with safety inspections lacking since 2019.
- French couple Jacques Moretti and Jessica Moretti, co-owners of Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, will be questioned Friday by the public prosecutor's office in Sion over the January 1, 2026 blaze.
- Investigators say sparklers on champagne bottles ignited sound-insulation foam in the basement, while municipal authorities of Crans-Montana confirmed no fire inspections occurred at Le Constellation since 2019.
- Authorities report Forty dead and 116 injured in the blaze, and the Morettis face manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence charges.
- The Wallis region's public prosecutor will decide whether to indict or close the case after questioning the Morettis for the first time since charges were announced on Saturday; the pair said on Tuesday they were `devastated and overwhelmed with grief` and pledged `full cooperation`.
- Le Parisien reported Jacques Moretti served time about 20 years ago, prompting further scrutiny of the couple's real estate holdings and personal and economic circumstances, while lawyer Sebastien Fanti called it `a welcome resurgence of the investigation` on January 8, 2026.
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After the tragedy in the Alps – now everyone is talking about fire safety while young people are choosing not to go to bars and nightclubs. Swedish Ingela Lindström wants to see new rules at the ski resort while a fire safety expert warns: “Such a fire could happen in Sweden.”
Owners of ski resort bar that saw 40 killed in New Year's fire arrive at court
Jacques Moretti and Jessica Moretti of the Le Constellation bar arrived for a hearing at the office of the public prosecutor of the Canton of Valais, in Sion, this morning over a devastating fire
40 people died in the Swiss fire disaster of Crans-Montana. Read with BILDplus how a Cologne clinic treats the survivors.
Another 11 Italians who were injured in the fire are being treated in a Milan hospital, five of whom are in critical condition.
As a result of the Crans Montana inferno, a Linz bar operator (42) is now converting the lighting for champagne bottles to sustainable technology that cannot cause fires.The scene restaurant explains what is now changing.The tragedy on New Year's Eve, when a bar in Crans-Montana (Switzerland) was set on fire by spray candles on champagne bottles, 40 people were killed and more than 100 were seriously injured, is now also showing effects on local…
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