The first statements of the owner of the place in Crans-Montana consumed by flames on New Year's Eve
Police officers stand guard at the scene of the fire that devastated the “Le Constellation” bar in Crans-Montana on January 1, 2026. Photo: MAXIME SCHMID / AFP / Profimedia
Jacques Moretti, the owner of the bar “Le Constellation” in Switzerland, said, in a first statement given after the fire in which at least 40 people died and another 119 were injured, that the place was controlled by the authorities “three times in ten years”, according to 24heures.ch.
Contacted by phone to journalists from 24heures.ch, Jacques Moretti, one of the owners of the bar, refused any interview, citing that he “doesn't feel well” following the tragedy.
Before ending the call, however, he assured that the restaurant had been checked “three times in ten years” and that “everything was done according to the rules”, the journalists from the cited publication write.
However, the journalists write that Article 8 of the cantonal ordinance on fire prevention stipulates that inspections must take place “every year in buildings open to the public or that present special risks.”
Asked about the checks made in the premises, the local authorities did not respond to the requests of the journalists of the publication 24heures.ch.
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Who are the owners of the bar that caught fire on New Year's Eve?
The owners of the bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana where a fire broke out on New Year's Eve, in which at least 40 people died and 119 were injured, according to the latest report, are a French couple, according to AFP.
This information, originally revealed by the French newspaper Corse-Matin, was confirmed to France Presse by a friend of the couple, Jean-Thomas Filippini, who also said that the two owners of the bar are alive.
The couple also own two other establishments, according to the Valais canton's commercial register: Le Senso, a bar-restaurant specializing in hamburgers in the Crans-Montana resort, and Le Vieux-Chalet in the neighboring village of Lens, which bills itself as a “Corsican inn.”
Who are the French owners of the bar where the tragedy occurred in Crans-Montana
The owners of the bar were questioned
The two were interviewed by the authorities as “persons called to provide information”. This status does not mean they are formally accused, but gives them defense rights (such as the presence of a lawyer) as a precaution at this stage of the investigation, according to 24heures.ch.
The French press has so far obtained only scraps of information about the couple who own Constellation. According to BFM, Jacques Moretti was not in the bar at the time of the fire on the night of the tragedy, but in one of the couple's other two restaurants.
His wife, Jessica Moretti, who was present at the scene during the fire, suffered burns on an arm, according to a source close to the case cited by Le Figaro.
