Co-owner of Swiss ski resort bar hit by deadly fire at New Year’s party taken into police custody

Sion, Switzerland —Jacques Moretti, co-owner of the Swiss bar who caught fire in a deadly fire during a New Year’s celebration, was taken into custody after being questioned by prosecutors Friday, a prosecutor said. Valais prosecutor general Béatrice Pilloud said in a statement that Moretti’s detention was necessary to avoid a “risk of flight”.

His wife Jessica, the bar’s other co-owner, was allowed to remain free under judicial supervision, Pilloud’s office said.

The Morettis, co-owners of the Le Constellation bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, were questioned by prosecutors in the canton of Valais in southwest Switzerland as the country held a day of national mourning for the 40 people killed during last week’s disaster. The average age of those killed was 19 years old.

The couple faces charges of negligent manslaughter, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson.

They were questioned by the public prosecutor’s office in the town of Sion, not far from Crans-Montana.

A day of national mourning in Switzerland

Carrying a bucket filled with white roses, Azeddine Mekrabech visited Crans-Montana on Friday, as Switzerland paid tribute to the dozens of people who died in the New Year’s Eve fire tragedy.

An igloo-shaped tarpaulin now covers the mound of flowers, teddy bears and lit candles outside Le Constellation bar in the ski resort, to protect the makeshift memorial from snowfall.

Entering the enclosed space, Mekrabech delicately placed the roses.

“I brought 40. One for each of the victims,” he explained to AFP.

Eight days after the Crans-Montana Constellation tragedy, which left 40 dead and 116 injured, Switzerland celebrated a day of national mourning for the victims, most of them teenagers.

Mekrabech, 30, was from Lyon, in neighboring France. He was one of many travelers from far and wide to mark the event at the snowy ski resort where the tragedy occurred.

“I’m someone who likes to party a lot. It made me think about myself. I thought I could have gone to a party without paying attention and ended up stuck like that,” he said. “I saw myself…I felt like I had to make the move.”

He and others said they would watch the national memorial ceremony, broadcast live on giant screens in Crans-Montana from Martigny, in the Rhone Valley. Several heads of state from European countries whose citizens were killed in the fire attended the ceremony.

At the Crans-Montana convention center, which was used in the days after the tragedy to accommodate family members desperately seeking information about their missing loved ones, about 1,400 people gathered to watch the ceremony, many of them sobbing quietly.

When the first speakers arrived, heading toward about 100 reserved seats, they were greeted with a standing ovation.

Nicolas Dobler, a 38-year-old volunteer firefighter from the canton of Jura in northwestern Switzerland, said he came with three colleagues to light candles at the memorial.

“We came especially today for the national day of mourning and also to really support our fellow firefighters who have really experienced something horrible,” he told AFP. “It’s a situation you would never want to encounter. You can’t prepare for this kind of thing, it’s impossible. Even with all the training in the world.”

Olena, a 61-year-old Ukrainian refugee living in Sion, said she also came to the mountainside to take part in the day of mourning.

“I come from Ukraine, where people are also dying. It was terrifying. I wanted to come and pay tribute to the victims,” ​​she said.

In front of Le Constellation, Federico Gelle, a 17-year-old from Italian Tuscany, lit a candle for so many teenagers his age who perished.

He knelt down and appeared to pray among the flowers, before straightening his glasses and reappearing, his eyes filled with tears.

“It’s a terrible thing, but it could have been avoided,” he told AFP. “I haven’t lost anyone here… but it’s just very sad.”

Gelle said that if he had chosen to spend New Year’s Eve in Crans-Montana, as he had done in the past, he could very well have been among the victims.

“It’s a thought that sent shivers down my spine…I think I’m very lucky.”

Matthias Gerhardt, 61, traveled from Geneva and visited Crans-Montana for the first time.

“What happened is so serious, it’s incredible. That’s why I came here,” he told AFP. “We are in a state of national mourning. It is important that we can express our anger, talk with people. It is important to participate.”