Helmet-wearing waitress who has been blamed for igniting fire at Swiss bar ‘was locked in a bitter employment row with owners’

The waitress blamed for igniting the deadly New Year fire in a Swiss bar was involved in a bitter employment dispute with its owners and was by no means their friend, her family have revealed.

Cyane Panine, a 24-year-old French woman, died in the inferno at Le Constellation, in the ski resort of Crans-Montana, after she was filmed holding two champagne bottles fitted with sparklers while sitting on a colleague’s shoulders.

The pyrotechnics are said to have set fire to foam used for soundproofing in the basement ceiling, leading to the deaths of 40 people and seeing 116 others horrifically burned.

Jacques and Jessica Moretti, the bar’s owners, are facing trial for multiple charges, including ‘manslaughter by negligence,’ and have continually claimed that Cyane was like a ‘step-daughter’ and ‘sister’ to them.

But Sophie Haenni, a lawyer for Cyane’s family, on Wednesday told the BFM TV news channel this was false.

Instead, Cyane had contacted ‘the workers’ protection service’ over her employment conditions and was demanding ‘a contract, her work certificate, and her salary certificate’.

She was entitled to all of these documents under Swiss law, but the Morettis appeared reluctant to give them to her, or to pay her a decent wage.

Mr Moretti, who is in pre-trial detention for at least the next three months and who has also served time for previous criminal convictions, including pimping, was regularly accused of exploiting staff.

Cyane and the Morettis were said to have addressed each other formally in messages, while the 24-year-old also complained of ‘orders’ given to her by Ms Moretti.

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Cyane Panine, 24, was one of 40 people who died in the New Years Eve inferno

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High-quality photographs show the very first moments of the Swiss Constellation Bar fire in Crans-Montana

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The pyrotechnics are thought to have lit soundproofing foam in the ceiling, triggering a massive fire in which 116 others were also severely burned

Cyane’s parents, Jérôme and Astrid Cyane, are particularly angry at the tear-filled, highly sentimental words uttered by Ms Moretti during a court appearance last week.

It was then that she referred to Cyane as ‘a sister’ and said she had asked her to ‘get the atmosphere going’ at Le Constellation, just before her death on January 1st.

Ms Moretti admitted she knew the champagne sparkler stunt was being performed regularly, despite the huge danger.

She also offered a reserved apology for what happened on New Year’s Day, without admitting any criminal or civil liability.

Ms Haenni, a barrister, said the Cyane family ‘didn’t take Ms Moretti’s apology very well.’

The barrister said: ‘They were quite hurt, because for them it didn’t reflect her behaviour on the evening.’

Ms Haenni added ‘the image the Moretti family is trying to project contradicts certain elements of the case’ and ‘there was no familiarity’ between them and Cyane.

The Panine family are now ‘filled with a sense of powerlessness, injustice, and uncertainty,’ as well as ‘frustration and anger,’ and will now fight ‘for those responsible to be convicted,’ said Ms Haenni.

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Mr Moretti is currently in custody, while his wife has been bailed with an electronic bracelet

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Cyane was snapped sitting on a colleague’s shoulders holding two champagne bottles fitted with sparklers

Video cameras are said to have caught Ms Moretti getting away from the scene of the fire as quickly as possible, in her car, after quickly escaping with the till containing the night’s cash takings under her arm.

Cyane’s parents have already alleged that an emergency exit was locked to prevent people from sneaking in and avoiding table charges equivalent to around £900 each.

Ms Panine said: ‘If the door had been open, maybe there wouldn’t have been any deaths.’

Speaking about her daughter’s last minutes, Ms Panine said: ‘She was unconscious, but still alive. They tried to resuscitate her for forty minutes. To no avail.’

Cyanwas buried in her hometown of Sète, on France’s southern coast, on Saturday.

Her parents said they are now trying to come to terms with their loss together, while demanding accountability for those they believe were responsible.

‘She was a ray of sunshine for everyone,’ Mr Panine said.

‘For us, the sun didn’t rise again in 2026. There’s a time for sadness and a time for anger. I think the anger will quickly take over.’

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A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial outside the ‘Le Constellation’ bar, after a deadly fire and explosion during a New Year’s Eve party, in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, January 5, 2026

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People mourn at a makeshift memorial outside the ‘Le Constellation’ bar, after a deadly fire and explosion during a New Year’s Eve party in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, January 4, 2026

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The firefighters of Crans-Montana, the first responders in the fire at the ‘Le Constellation’ bar and lounge, show emotions as they gather around flowers and candles to commemorate the victims, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, 04 January 2026

According to interview transcripts seen by Swiss news outlet Tages-Anzeiger, the Morettis identified Cyane as a waitress who was lifted towards the basement ceiling of Le Constellation while brandishing the champagne sparklers.

She was wearing a crash helmet as part of the gimmick, and this may have prevented her from seeing that the sparks were igniting the ceiling.

Investigators have now established that 34 of the 40 who died in the fire perished on the bar’s small stairwell, which had been reduced in width by a third by Mr Moretti during renovation work in 2015.

Swiss law enforcement officers found numerous bodies at the bottom of the staircase after the wooden steps and handrails collapsed.

When questioned by prosecutors on Friday, Jacques Moretti did not discuss the stairwell renovation. Still, he admitted that a ‘ground-floor service door’ was locked from the inside when the fire started.

He said that he forced it open upon arriving at the scene and found victims, including Cyane, dying from suffocation behind it.

Mr Moretti said he did not know why the door was locked, and he has also denied any civil or criminal wrongdoing.

On Friday, Mr Moretti told the Vallais public prosecutor’s office in nearby Sion he only became aware the bar’s ‘service door’ was ‘locked from the inside and on a latch’ after the fire.

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Mr Moretti (pictured) said Cyane was the was the girlfriend of a close family friend whom the Morettis had ‘raised as if he were my own’

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 Waitress wearing a crash helmet ‘who started Swiss inferno’ was among the 40 to die in the tragedy

Referring to Cyane in a day-long interview by prosecutors on Friday, Mr Moretti said she was the girlfriend of a close family friend whom the Morettis had ‘raised as if he were my own’.

Recalling how he found Cyane dying, Mr Moretti said: ‘I went out onto the patio [behind the bar]. All the windows were open.

‘There were a lot of people there. I tried to get inside, but it was impossible. There was far too much smoke.’

Pointing to the ‘service door’ rather than an exit, Mr Moretti said it was ‘closed and locked from the inside with a latch, whereas it usually wasn’t.

‘We forced it open – it finally gave way in a few seconds. When the door opened, several people were lying on the floor, unconscious.

‘My stepdaughter Cyane was one of them. We pulled them all outside and put them in the recovery position.’

Mr Moretti said he and Cyane’s boyfriend, ‘tried to resuscitate her for more than an hour in the street near the bar, until the emergency services told us it was too late’.

Cyane died within the hour.

Both the Morettis are currently considered a flight risk by the Swiss authorities, but Ms Moretti is being allowed to stay at home to look after the couple’s two children.

She is required to wear an electronic tag and has had her passport confiscated, and she must report to a local police station every three days.

The investigation into the fire continues.