Owner of Swiss bar where 40 people died on New Year’s Eve is detained for flight risk

Bar catches fire at ski resort in Switzerland during New Year’s Eve party Jacques Moretti, owner of the Swiss bar Le Constellation, where at least 40 people died and 115 were injured, was detained in the Swiss city of Sion, due to a potential flight risk, local newspaper 24 Heures reported. Prosecutors are investigating the bar’s French owners on suspicion of crimes including manslaughter, while victims’ families have filed legal complaints over the fire. Local police declined to comment on the matter, referring the case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment made by Reuters news agency. On January 1, the bar Le Constellation, located in the prestigious Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana caught fire, leaving people dead and injured. Minutes before, waiters served bottles of champagne adorned with pyrotechnic candles (see images below). Image shows the ceiling of a bar in a ski resort in Switzerland that caught fire, already on fire while patrons lift drinks with flares, on December 1, 2025 Reproduction/ Social Media Woman on the shoulders of an employee at the Le Constellation bar, in Switzerland, lifts a drink with a flare near the ceiling of the bar, which caught fire on January 1, 2025. Reproduction/ Social Media The following day, the bar’s owner told the local press that all safety standards were met. were respected. Moretti — who manages the place in partnership with his wife, Jessica — told the newspaper “Tribune de Genève” that the establishment had been subjected to “three inspections in ten years” and that “everything was done within the standards”. “We will do everything possible to help clarify the causes [da tragédia]. We are doing everything in our power. We can’t sleep or eat, we’re all in very bad shape,” he said. Located on the ground floor of a residential building, the bar has capacity for 300 people, in addition to another 40 on its balcony, according to the ski resort’s website. Several witnesses said that the underground event space, where the fire started, was connected to the ground floor only by a staircase, described by some as “narrow.” *With information from Reuters Location of the explosion that hit a bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland AFP

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