Co-owner of Swiss ski resort bar affected by deadly fire at New Year’s party arrested

Zion, Switzerland —Jacques Moretti, Swiss bar co-owner that broke out in a deadly fire during a New Year’s celebration, was detained after being questioned by prosecutors on Friday, a prosecutor said. The chief prosecutor of Switzerland’s Valais region, Beatrice Pilloud, said in a statement that Moretti’s detention was necessary to avoid a “risk of flight.”

His wife Jessica, the bar’s other co-owner, was allowed to remain free under court supervision, Pilloud’s office said.

The Morettis, co-owners of the Le Constellation bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, were interviewed by prosecutors in the southwestern Swiss canton of Wallis as the country marked a national day of mourning for the 40 people killed in last week’s disaster. The average age of those murdered was 19 years old.

The couple faces charges of negligent homicide, negligent bodily injury and negligent arson.

They were questioned by the prosecutor’s office in the city of Sion, not far from Crans-Montana.

A day of national mourning in Switzerland

Carrying a bucket full of white roses, Azeddine Mekrabech headed to Crans-Montana on Friday as Switzerland remembered the dozens of people who died in the New Year’s fire tragedy.

An igloo-like tarp now covers the mound of flowers, teddy bears and lit candles outside the Le Constellation bar at the ski resort, to protect the makeshift memorial from falling snow.

Entering the enclosed space, Mekrabech delicately placed the roses.

“I brought 40. One for each of the victims,” ​​he told News.

Eight days after the Le Constellation tragedy in Crans-Montana, which left 40 dead and 116 injured, Switzerland celebrated a national day of mourning for the victims, mostly teenagers.

Mekrabech, 30, came from Lyon, in neighboring France. He was one of many who traveled from afar to mark the occasion at the snow-covered ski resort where the tragedy occurred.

“I’m someone who quite likes to party. It made me think about myself. I thought I might have been at a party not paying attention and gotten caught up like that,” he said. “I saw myself… I felt like I had to make the gesture.”

He and others said they would watch the national memorial ceremony, which would be broadcast live on giant screens in Crans-Montana from Martigny in the Rhône Valley. Several heads of state from European nations whose citizens died in the fire attended the service.

At the Crans-Montana conference center, which was used in the days after the tragedy to house relatives desperately seeking information about their missing loved ones, around 1,400 people gathered to watch the ceremony, many of them sobbing silently.

When lifeguards arrived and made their way to about 100 reserved seats, they were greeted with a standing ovation.

Nicolas Dobler, a 38-year-old volunteer firefighter from the canton of Jura in northwestern Switzerland, said he had come with three colleagues to light candles at the monument.

“We’ve come today specifically for the national day of mourning and also to really support our fellow firefighters who have experienced something really horrible,” he told News. “It’s a situation you would never want to find yourself in. You can’t prepare for this kind of thing, it’s impossible. Even with all the training in the world.”

Olena, a 61-year-old Ukrainian refugee who lives in Sion, said she too had climbed the mountainside to take part in the day of mourning.

“I come from Ukraine, where people are also dying. This was terrifying. I wanted to come and honor the victims,” ​​he said.

Outside Le Constellation, Federico Gelle, a 17-year-old from the Italian region of Tuscany, lit a candle for so many teenagers his age who had died.

He knelt and appeared to pray among the flowers, before straightening his glasses and emerging again with tears filling his eyes.

“It’s something terrible, but avoidable,” he told News. “I haven’t lost anyone here… but it’s very sad.”

Gelle said that if he had chosen to spend New Year’s Eve in Crans-Montana, as he had in the past, he could very well have been among the victims.

“It’s a thought that made me cringe… I think I’m very lucky.”

Matthias Gerhardt, 61, traveled from Geneva and visited Crans-Montana for the first time.

“What happened is so serious, it’s incredible. That’s why I came here,” he told News. “We are in a state of national mourning. It’s important that we can express our anger, talk to people. It’s important to participate.”