Authorities have identified all 40 victims of a New Year’s blaze at a bar in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, as owners of the establishment are being investigated for negligent manslaughter.
Crans-Montana Bar Fire: Victims Identified
The 40 victims included 20 minors, according to Wallis canton police.
The victims ranged in age from 14 to 39 and comprised 21 Swiss nationals, nine French nationals – including one Franco-Swiss citizen and one with triple nationality of France, Israel and Britain – six Italians (including one Italian-Emirati), one Belgian woman, one Portuguese woman, one Romanian man, and one Turkish man.
A memorial service was held for the victims, with hundreds participating in a silent walk to a chapel of rest near the scene. The fire also injured 119 people, many with severe burns, leaving the local community deeply affected.
“The world’s media are focused on our resort. We thank them for seeking the compassion which the families of the injured and deceased so desperately need,” said Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion during the service.
Switzerland has declared a national day of mourning for January 9, with church bells across the country scheduled to ring at 2 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Irish time), followed by a moment of silence.
Pastor Gilles Cavin, representing the Reformed Church of Switzerland, noted that many of the victims were apprentices, high school students, and university students.
Police had previously identified eight Swiss victims and subsequently announced the identification of 10 more Swiss nationals – four women and six men aged 14 to 31 – along with two 16-year-old Italians, a 39-year-old Frenchman, a 16-year-old dual national of Italy and the United Arab Emirates, an 18-year-old Romanian, and an 18-year-old Turk.
Numerous foreign nationals were among those injured in the blaze, including 71 Swiss, 14 French (though the French foreign ministry reported 16), 11 Italians, four Serbs, a Belgian, a Bosnian, one person from Luxembourg, a Pole, and a Portuguese citizen.
During the memorial mass, Pastor Cavin stated, “we are here to say that in the face of the unspeakable, in the face of the brutality of death and suffering, we refuse to look away. We are here to express our compassion, our solidarity.”
The church, located approximately 300 meters from the bar, was filled to capacity, with the service broadcast on a large screen outside. Despite temperatures reaching -9° Celsius, hundreds gathered outside, many holding flowers.
Authorities believe the fire may have been caused by lit sparklers attached to champagne bottles igniting foam on the ceiling.
Jacques and Jessica Moretti, the owners and managers of Le Constellation bar, are under investigation for manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence, and arson by negligence. The bar was crowded with young partygoers when the fire began in the basement around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Jacques Moretti told Swiss press that all safety regulations were followed at the bar, which had a capacity of 300 people plus 40 on its terrace.
Video footage shows people attempting to escape the fire, some breaking windows. The footage also shows the ceiling, covered in soundproofing foam, catching fire and flames spreading rapidly.
Experts suggest the “highly flammable” foam may have caused a flashover, a near-simultaneous ignition of everything in the enclosed space.
The Mayor of Crans-Montana, Nicolas Feraud, stated that the municipality was not negligent in the matter.
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