Prosecutors grill bar owners over deadly Swiss inferno that killed 41 people during New Year celebrations.
SION (Switzerland): The owners of a bar that caught fire during New Year celebrations in a Swiss ski resort faced fresh questions from prosecutors on Friday over the disaster, which killed 41 people.
French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti arrived at the hearing venue in Sion, southwest Switzerland, in an unmarked police vehicle. They and their lawyers declined to speak to reporters outside.
They were to be cross-examined by public prosecutors and lawyers for civil parties caught up in the fire that engulfed Le Constellation bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana in the early hours of January 1.
READ MORE: Swiss bar owners confronted by grieving families over fatal fire
The Morettis face charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence over allegations the bar failed to follow safety protocols.
Survivors and the victims’ families were also allowed to attend the cross-examination.
Among those present was Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, whose 16-year-old son died in the disaster.
“I lost my son Arthur in this tragedy. That’s why I’m wearing white today and why I wear his picture over my heart,” she told journalists.
“There are 40 other angels who have left us. There are 115 injured, some of whom are still in hospital in intensive care, some with severe burns, some still in shock, some unrecognisable,” she said, her voice shaking with emotion.
“I need answers. We need answers,” she said, before going inside.
‘Everest of collusion’
Brodard-Sitre’s lawyer Romain Jordan said: “This is the last chance that the Morettis will have to show their willingness to play an active part in the investigation and provide answers to the victims on all the points which remain unclear or ambiguous.”
The Morettis have already been questioned twice since the criminal investigation against them was opened in the days after the fire.
Friday’s hearing was their first appearance before prosecutors since February, and the first time they have been questioned together rather than individually.
“This is a couple who share a household: it’s the Everest of collusion,” said Gilles-Antoine Hofstetter, one of the many lawyers representing the civil parties, before going inside.
“There’s a strong chance that their accounts will be coordinated.”
Jacques Moretti was taken into custody for two weeks in January, before being released on bail.
He was originally due to be questioned again on April 7, but that hearing was postponed on medical grounds.
He and his wife have been barred from leaving the country, among other restrictive measures.
‘Stop shifting the blame’
In total, 14 people are under criminal investigation in connection with the disaster, including several current and former local officials.
No annual municipal safety checks had been carried out at the bar since 2019.
Among other things, the investigation is looking at the local authority’s actions, the fire prevention measures put in place by the bar’s owners and the exact sequence of events leading to the fatal fire.
Prosecutors believe the fire started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to the ceiling in the bar’s basement level, igniting the sound-insulation foam.
Seventeen of those killed were aged 16 or under.
The victims’ families want, above all, “that the Morettis stop shifting the blame onto others, whether it’s the mysterious foam seller, the invisible local inspector or their loyal employees”, Didier Elsig, another lawyer for victims’ families, told reporters.
“We want them to acknowledge their wrongdoing, their mistakes,” he said, adding that, in his estimation, the hearing is taking place “much too late”.
