The owner of the bar in Crans-Montana, new revelations before the investigators: The service door was locked / What he said about the foam on the ceiling
The owners of the bar “Le Constellation” in Crans-Motana, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, arriving at the hearing on January 9, 2026. Credit: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP / Profimedia
The manager of the “Le Constellation” bar in Crans-Montana, where a fire took place on New Year's Eve that killed 40 people, admitted to investigators that the service door on the ground floor of the bar was locked from the inside on the night of the tragedy and that he himself replaced the foam on the ceiling that caught fire, according to RTS.
The owner of the place stated to the investigators that he unlocked the door from the outside and saw several lifeless bodies in the area of the door. Jacques Moretti said he did not know why the door was locked.
When questioned by investigators, Moretti said he had replaced the foam in the ceiling himself. The patron of the bar stated that he had removed the old foam used for the acoustic insulation of the ceiling and replaced it with one purchased from the Hornbach DIY store.
RTS had written that the bar staff were aware of the risks associated with the foam. On New Year's Eve between 2019 and 2020, a waiter had warned customers that there was a risk of the ceiling's soundproofing catching fire.
Jacques Moretti, who runs the bar in the Swiss resort of Crans-Motana with his wife, was remanded in custody on Friday. The Swiss press wrote that the authorities decided to introduce a preventive measure only in his case, not his wife, because they considered that there was a risk of him fleeing the country.
The owner of the bar in Crans-Montana, where 40 people died in the fire, has been arrested. The decision of the authorities, nine days after the tragedy
The decision to place him in preventive detention was taken nine days after the New Year's Eve tragedy. As a result of the fire that engulfed the “Le Constellation” bar in Crans-Montana, 40 people died, including a Romanian. Another 116 people were injured.
The leader of the Swiss canton of Valais, Mathias Reynard, said on Saturday that specialized authorities had not inspected the bar for six years.
“I was furious because of these serious errors.” Swiss official, about the controls of the authorities at the bar consumed by the fire
