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Swiss inferno bar owners 'overwhelmed with grief'
Swiss inferno bar owners 'overwhelmed with grief'
The owners of the Swiss bar where 40 people died in a blaze said Tuesday they were "devastated and overwhelmed with grief", and pledged their "full cooperation" with investigators.
"Words cannot adequately describe the tragedy that unfolded that night at Le Constellation," Jacques and Jessica Moretti said in their first public statement since a criminal investigation was opened against them Saturday following the fire in the Swiss ski resort town of Crans-Montana.
The French nationals are facing charges for negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm, and negligent arson over the blaze, which ripped through their bar at around 1:30 am Thursday when it was crammed with young New Year's revellers.
Most of the 40 people who died were teenagers, some as young as 14. Another 116 people were injured in the blaze.
Prosecutors believe the fire started when people celebrating the New Year raised champagne bottles with sparklers attached, setting light to sound insulation foam on the ceiling in the bar's basement level.
The investigation will focus on whether fire safety standards were respected in work carried out by the couple in 2015 and the materials used, as well as access to emergency exits and fire extinguishers.
Earlier Tuesday, municipal authorities in Crans-Montana acknowledged that no fire safety inspections had been conducted at the establishment since 2019.
In the statement released by their lawyers, the Morettis said they had "full confidence in the investigators to shed light on the matter and answer all questions".
"Please be assured of our full cooperation and that we will under no circumstances attempt to evade these matters," they said.
According to sources close to the case, Jacques Moretti was known to the French justice system for procuring, and had served time in jail in 2005 and 2008.
According to French newspaper Le Dauphine Libere, he was accused of recruiting young women in France to work in a massage parlour in Geneva, and had been barred from managing businesses in France.
According to another source close to the case, he had also been implicated in seven other criminal cases in the past, including on suspicion of fraud, without conviction.
Once the investigation concludes, the Wallis region's public prosecutor's office will determine whether to file an indictment against the pair or to close the case.
bur-ag/nl/rjm/rh
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
