San Francisco Frontiers - Switzerland holds day of mourning after deadly New Year fire

Days after the tragedy at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, which left 116 injured, the establishment's owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti -- who are facing charges of manslaughter -- were questioned by public prosecutors.

Later Friday, Switzerland will come to a standstill for a minute of silence at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT). A chorus of church bells will then ring throughout the Alpine nation.

A memorial ceremony for the victims will be held in Martigny, a town about 50 kilometres (30 miles) down the Rhone valley from Crans-Montana, which had been rendered all but inaccessible by a large snowstorm.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who has declared the fire one of the country's worst tragedies, will be joined for Friday's ceremony by his French and Italian counterparts, whose countries lost nine and six nationals respectively.

Top officials from Belgium, Luxembourg, Serbia and the European Union were also due to participate.

Most of those impacted by the inferno at Le Constellation were Swiss, but a total of 19 nationalities were among the dead and injured.

People in Crans-Montana will be able to watch the ceremony on giant screens, including at the congress centre that for days after the blaze accommodated families seeking news of missing loved ones.

- Among 'worst tragedies' -

The memorial that has sprung up in front of the bar, filled with flowers, candles, toys and pictures of the victims, has been covered in a white igloo-like tarpaulin to protect it from heavy snowfall, as small snow ploughs worked to keep the area clear.

Inside, a woman broke down sobbing as she tried to light a candle late Thursday, as another woman laid a consoling arm around her.

On a nearby table, a thick memorial book brims with messages.

"A great national loss forever etched in our minds. May they rest in peace," one reads. "My heart is heavy," reads another.

"Everything is different now," said a French woman in her 30s who works seasonally in Crans-Montana and who did not want to give her name.

"Before, this place was all smiles. Now, there are no more smiles here," she told AFP Friday.

- 'Staggering' -

This week Crans-Montana authorities acknowledged that no fire safety inspections had been conducted at Le Constellation since 2019, prompting outrage.

The investigation will seek to shed light on the responsibilities of the authorities, but also of the bar's owners.

The Morettis, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, arrived Friday for questioning by prosecutors in the nearby city of Sion.

The French pair, who have not been detained, said this week they were "overwhelmed with grief", and pledged their "full cooperation" with investigators.

They will need to answer numerous questions about why so many minors were in the bar, and whether fire safety standards were adhered to.

"We expect our clients, the families, to receive answers... and for all responsibilities from A to Z to be established," said lawyer Romain Jordan, who was expected to attend the hearing.

The families, he said, want to know "why this tragedy... was able to occur here in Switzerland, despite all the legal, legislative, and surveillance measures in place."

- 'They were kids' -

Half of those killed in the blaze were under 18, including two as young as 14.

Johan Verthoogen, a 31-year-old tourist from Belgium, told AFP he had been nearby on the night of the disaster, and had seen numerous fatalities laid out under blankets.

"It was really tough... to see those bodies," he said. "They were kids."

Of those injured, 83 were still in hospital as of Monday, with the most severely burned airlifted to specialist centres across Switzerland and abroad.

Prosecutors believe the blaze started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling in the bar's basement section.

Video footage which has emerged from the tragedy shows young people desperately trying to flee the scene, some breaking windows to try to force their way out.

C.Diaz--SFF