The Crans-Montana bar, Le Constellation, in which 40 people died in a fire on New Year's Eve, had not been controlled by the municipal security service from 2020 to 2025, admitted Nicolas Féraud, president of the Municipal Council, on Tuesday. Swiss law requires “to carry out these periodic visits annually” in establishments open to the public. A few hours later, the owners of the bar reacted for the first time since the tragedy.

Published on: 01/06/2026 - 2:00 p.m. Modified on: 01/06/2026 - 7:39 p.m.

The investigation continues after the fire which left 40 dead in the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on New Year's Eve. The municipality admitted, Tuesday January 6, a "failure" to carry out periodic safety checks. The law requires “to make these periodic visits annually” in establishments open to the public, declared the president of Crans-Montana, Nicolas Féraud, during a press conference.

In 2016, 2018 and 2019, inspections of the Le Constellation bar were carried out, with specific requests for modifications to comply with these standards, according to the municipality. But “periodic inspections were not carried out from 2020 to 2025” and “we bitterly regret this”, acknowledged Nicolas Féraud, indicating however that he did not know why the inspections were not carried out.

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The municipality “will assume all responsibility that justice determines”

“We are deeply sorry, we have no answer today,” he said. “Justice will determine the influence that such a failure had in the chain of causality leading to the tragedy,” the municipality said in a press release, specifying that it “will assume all the responsibility that justice determines.”

Asked if he wanted to resign, the president of the ski resort responded in the negative, repeating several times that "you don't leave a ship in the middle of the storm." But “we are all extremely sad,” said Nicolas Féraud.

The bar has been owned since 2015 by two French people, Jacques and Jessica Moretti. Since Saturday, they have been under investigation and suspected of “negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson”. They were neither placed in pre-trial detention nor placed under house arrest.

“I will carry this burden and the sadness of all these families all my life”

The latter reacted for the first time since the tragedy on Tuesday in a press release. “We are devastated and overcome with grief,” they said.

In this press release sent by their lawyers, the couple also assured that they had “full confidence in the investigators to shed light on them and dispel the questions”. “Be certain in this regard of our full collaboration and the fact that we will not seek to shirk in any way,” they assured.

In this text, they affirmed to be in "constant thought" for the victims, their loved ones, and the injured and praised the "courage" of the police and rescuers.

The fire was caused, according to the investigation, by so-called “fountain” candles, which ignited the ceiling of the basement of the bar covered with acoustic foam. The establishment's patrons, mainly teenagers and young adults, were trapped by the flames. The investigation must in particular determine whether this foam was compliant or not.

Videos, revealed Monday evening by Swiss television RTS, show that this is not the first time that this type of candles was used in the bar and that the danger was known. “Watch out for the foam!” This warning was uttered six years ago by a bar employee during the 2019-2020 New Year's Eve party, according to one of these videos.

The president of Crans-Montana indicated that the municipality had never been warned of the danger. “We would have wanted these people to alert us. We would have intervened immediately if we had known something,” he defended himself. “I have experienced this week in an extremely difficult way. I know that I will carry this burden and the sadness of all these families for the rest of my life,” he concluded.

The owner of the Constellation had obtained building authorization for a veranda in 2015, and carried out interior work himself "which did not require authorization", the municipality also specified. In September 2025, a specialized external office carried out an acoustic study of the Constellation and confirmed, according to the municipality, "compliance with anti-noise standards, without identifying other problems".

With AFP

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