Tears, screams, accusations in the face and an anger that doesn’t subside. On the sidelines of a new day of hearings in Sion, the case of the fire at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana – on New Year’s Eve – returns to show all its open wound: on one side the French owners of the place, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, on the other the families of the victims, determined to demand truth and justice for the 41 dead and 115 injured, mostly teenagers.
“You killed my brother”: the clash in front of the court The tension exploded when the Moretti couple arrived. Among those present, a small delegation of relatives of the victims confronted the couple, challenging them directly. The hardest moment was the one involving Tobyas, 14 years old, brother of the young Trystan, who died in the fire at the age of 17. “Look me in the eyes, you killed my brother,” the boy allegedly shouted, in a confrontation full of pain and anger. The words of Trystan’s parents captured the mood of those who remained. Her mother, Vinciane Stucky, said that during the hearing Jacques Moretti attempted to ask her for forgiveness: a gesture firmly rejected. The father, Christian Pidoux, in front of journalists in the rain, chanted a phrase that was repeated several times among the family: “Neither forgiveness, nor oblivion”.
Jessica in tears, Jacques: “We will take responsibility”
As the protest became more intense, Jessica Moretti appeared in tears, trying to enter the building where the hearings are taking place. Jacques Moretti, however, responded to the family by promising to take responsibility: “We will take our responsibilities, we promise, we are here for justice.” A passage that is read by some as a first attempt at moral admission, but which for many families cannot be sufficient: at stake is not only guilt, but the full reconstruction of what happened and any negligence.
The investigation, for now, concerns the crimes of homicide due to negligence, injuries and fire. Under investigation are not only the owners of the bar, but also the current head of safety of Crans-Montana and his predecessor, who would leave office in 2024. The hearings are not public, but relatives of the victims can attend.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the fire would have been started by sparks from “fountain” candles (those often used for stage effects), which would have ignited a sound-absorbing foam on the ceiling of the basement of the venue. Now the central issue is to understand: whether the safety regulations have been respected; what responsibilities fall on managers; whether there are omissions or deficiencies in the controls. A fact that has already emerged weighs heavily on this last point: the Municipality would have recognized the absence of fire checks in the bar since 2019, despite the fact that they had to be carried out annually.
Furthermore, no evacuation drills would ever have been carried out at Constellation. Jessica Moretti herself said it in today’s interrogation “because no one ever told us we had to do them”. Furthermore, the businesswoman claimed that on New Year’s Eve there were two bouncers, but from the documentation collected by the prosecutor’s office only one was hired.