Prosecutors on Friday detained the proprietor of a Swiss bar the place a deadly New Year’s Day fire killed 40 individuals and injured 116 others, in line with officers.
Jacques Moretti was positioned in pre-trial detention after a gathering with prosecutors in Sion, the prosecutor’s workplace for Switzerland’s Valais area stated.
The blaze ripped by Le Constellation, a well-liked bar within the resort city of Crans-Montana within the Swiss Alps, early on Jan. 1.
House owners of “Le Constellation” bar Jacques Moretti and Jessica Moretti arrive for a listening to on the Workplace of the general public prosecutor of the Canton of Valais in Sion on Jan. 9, 2026. The French couple, going through expenses of manslaughter by negligence, bodily hurt by negligence and arson by negligence, have been known as in for questioning after 40 individuals, most of them youngsters, had been killed, whereas 116 had been injured in a hearth that ripped by a bar within the luxurious Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana on New Yr’s Eve.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Moretti’s spouse and enterprise associate Jessica Moretti additionally attended the assembly however was not detained, in line with the workplace. She was current on the bar in the course of the hearth and was burned on her arm.
“My fixed ideas are with the victims and people who are combating at present. That is an unimaginable tragedy,” Moretti informed reporters exterior the prosecutor’s workplace.
On this screenshot from a video offered by the Valais Cantonal Police, emergency staff reply to a scene the place a hearth broke out in a single day at Le Constellation bar, on Jan. 1, 2026, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
Valais Cantonal Police by way of Getty Photos
The bar had not been inspected within the final 5 years, Swiss officers stated at a press convention earlier this week.
“There was a tradition of reckless risk-taking”, Nicolas Féraud, the municipal chief of Crans-Montana, stated at a press convention earlier this week. “This endangered prospects and employees,” he stated.
Féraud stated that the municipal authorities had “by no means obtained any alerts” about issues within the bar. He additionally confirmed that there was an emergency exit within the basement, however couldn’t say whether or not it was open, closed or blocked.
Law enforcement officials examine the world the place a hearth broke out on the Le Constellation bar and lounge throughout a New Yr’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Jan. 1, 2026.
Alessandro della Valle/Keystone by way of AP
The blaze of “undetermined origin” broke out on the bar at about 1:30 a.m. native time on Jan. 1, the Cantonal Police of Valais stated in an announcement on the time of the hearth.
On Jan. 2, the Valais lawyer basic informed reporters that investigators are “pursuing a number of hypotheses” based on evidence they’ve gathered.
“We presently assume that the hearth was brought on by sparklers hooked up to champagne bottles that got here too near the ceiling,” she stated at a information convention.
