Owner of Crans Montana Le Constellation bar taken into custody by Swiss police

Eight days on from the fire that swept through an Alpine bar on New Year’s Eve, Switzerland mourned the 40 lives lost in the tragedy, as ITV News Correpsondent Sejal Karia reports

The owner of the Swiss ski resort bar, Le Constellation, has been arrested by Swiss authorities, according to local media, as a national day of mourning was held for the 40 people who died in a fire there on New Year’s Eve.

German media organisation Blick reported that Jaques Moretti was detained on Friday, after a judge ruled he represented a flight risk on account of his French citizenship and France’s longstanding policy to not extradite its own citizens.

His wife, who co-owned the bar, issued a statement to reporters outside the court in the Swiss town of Sion, apologising to the victims of the fire.

“I would like to apologise to all the victims,” Jessica Moretti said. “My thoughts are always with the victims. It is an unbelievable tragedy that happened in our bar.”

Jessica Moretti was not detained further.

Investigators believe sparklers attached to Champagne bottles caused the blaze which killed 40 people.Credit: AP

Jaques Moretti had previously denied wrongdoing when questioned by journalists.

Speaking to French news organisation 24 heures after the fire, Jacques Moretti insisted “everything was done according to the rules”, and that his venue had been inspected three times in the past ten years.

Reports since have suggested Swiss authorities failed to inspect the bar in the past five years.

On Friday, prosecutors requested one of the managers to be placed in pre-trial detention.

Valais region’s chief prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said in a statement the detention of the man was needed to avoid a “risk of flight.”

The man’s wife and co-manager will remain free under judicial supervision, the statement said.

Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the managers, who are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire.

In Italy, the Rome prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the blaze, alleging manslaughter and arson, Italian media reported Thursday.

An autopsy has been ordered for five of the six Italian victims and has been delegated to the prosecutors’ offices in Milan, Bologna, and Genoa, where the bodies of the victims have been returned.

“What happened is not a disaster: It’s the result of too many people who didn’t do their job or who thought they were making easy money,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said during a press conference on Friday.

“Those responsible must be identified and prosecuted.”

Meloni said the State Attorney General’s Office has contacted the Swiss Attorney General to follow the investigation and confirmed that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office has started a separate probe.

“The families have my word that they will not be left alone while they seek justice,” she added.

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.

Moretti’s arrest comes the same day Switzerland held a memorial service to honour the 40 people who were killed in the fire earlier this month. An additional 116 people were injured when the fire broke out less than two hours after midnight at the Le Constellation bar on January 1.

The day was marked by a memorial service and a minute’s silence, while church bells across Switzerland rang for five minutes, beginning at 2 pm.

Investigators have said they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire in the resort town of Crans-Montana when they came too close to the ceiling.

The memorial service on Friday is part of a national day of mourning in Switzerland.