San Francisco Frontiers - French owners of Swiss bar under scrutiny after New Year blaze

Jacques and Jessica Moretti were interviewed as witnesses at the start of the investigation into the deadly blaze that erupted as revellers were ushering in the New Year.

But the owners of Le Constellation bar and two other establishments in Crans-Montana and the neighbouring commune of Lens on Saturday were objects of a criminal inquiry launched by the public prosecutor for "negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm, and negligent arson".

Before it is known whether there will be a trial, the investigation will have to establish the couple’s responsibility for the tragedy, which, according to initial findings, was likely caused by smouldering candles fixed to champagne bottles placed too close to the ceiling in the establishment’s basement.

According to local newspapers, Jacques Moretti is from Ghisonaccia in Upper Corsica and his wife Jessica is from the Cote d’Azur.

Before Switzerland, Jacques Moretti ran a bar in the port of Bonifacio, a popular Corsican seaside town in Corsica.

Jean-Charles Orsucci, mayor of Bonifacio since 2008, confirmed to AFP that Jacques Moretti had a business on the port in the late 2000s.

He added that he had always had "good relations" with Moretti.

- 'A friend of the resort' -

The couple settled in the upscale Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana in 2015 and bought Le Constellation, according to commercial registries, which also list the opening of two other businesses -- Le Senso cafe-restaurant registered in 2020 in Crans-Montana and the Corsican inn Le Vieux Chalet, registered in 2023 in Lens.

"He's a friend, he settled here, it was his first bar, then he had two others. He’s a hard worker, he’s a friend of the resort," Charles-Andre Bagnoud, a notary in Crans-Montana, told AFP.

"He did his job very seriously, and we saw him every day, he was always there, always there, always committed," Bagnoud said.

The investigation will scrutinise the work carried out in the bar’s basement in 2015 as well as the materials used, operational permits, and safety measures.

Investigators will have to look into several elements, including the nature of the foam -- an acoustic insulator covering the basement ceiling -- which appears to have ignited quickly, and compliance with standards for access and emergency exits in the basement.

Numerous accounts reported scenes of pushing and shoving, notably on the staircase leading to the basement.

Swiss regulations require doors to open in the direction of the exit and routes to be clearly signposted.

- 'We are in mourning too' -

Questioned on Saturday by journalists, including AFP, outside his home in the neighbouring commune of Lens, Jacques Moretti said: "Leave us alone, we are in mourning too."

On Friday, he had told the La Tribune de Geneve newspaper that his bar had been inspected "three times in 10 years" and that "everything was done according to standards."

"The file (for the establishment) was requested from the commune and obtained. It is currently being checked," Beatrice Pilloud, the attorney general of the Wallis canton, told the press on Saturday.

This investigation "was opened because we have suspicions, but as long as there is no conviction, the presumption of innocence prevails," she said.

At the conclusion of the inquiry, the public prosecutor will decide whether to close the case or issue an indictment that could lead to a trial.

In the meantime, the parties concerned have not been subjected to any pretrial detention or house arrest, a cantonal police spokesperson confirmed to AFP on Saturday.

burs-ach/cw

H.Reyes--SFF