It was New Year’s Eve and the music was still playing when the ceiling of the ground floor of the venue caught fire. People started recording with their cell phones until someone shouted, “This place is on fire, we have to get out fast!” Then came the screams, different from those of minutes earlier and not captured by the cameras. And chaos. The fire department received the alarm at 1:30 a.m. They arrived quickly, but it was too late.
Five days have passed since that horrific scene: the devastating New Year’s Eve fire that left 40 dead and 119 injured at the Le Constellation bar in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana. This picturesque Alpine village, a popular ski destination for affluent tourists, is grappling with the aftermath of one of the country’s greatest tragedies while searching for answers and trying to identify the victims.
Swiss authorities announced on Sunday that the identification of all the bodies had been completed. Half of the victims were minors. The youngest were two 14-year-olds, and the rest were aged between 15 and 17. The Le Constellation bar was known for being frequented by many people under the age of 18. Of the victims, 22 were Swiss and the rest were foreign nationals: six Italians, eight French, one Portuguese, one Belgian, one Romanian, and one Turkish. Three held dual citizenship.
Among those already identified is a friend of Fabien M., a local resident. The deceased was the only security guard present at the establishment that night: “He was working to ensure the safety of those young people, so he went in to help them escape when the fire started. He lost his life trying to get them out,” he told this newspaper, through tears.
There are many unanswered questions about the cause of the tragedy. In official statements made in recent days, authorities have released information sparingly. What is known is that the fire started due to a flare placed inside a champagne bottle, which struck the ceiling. The ceiling was covered with a soundproofing material that is highly flammable. The incident occurred on the ground floor of the building, and the fire spread rapidly, as can be seen in videos recorded by witnesses.
When they realized the severity of the fire, they tried to escape through the most visible exit: a narrow staircase leading to the upper floor. Panic ensued. The building had an emergency exit, but people tried to leave via the stairs. The prosecutor confirmed that this exit existed, but no one has explained why it wasn’t used.
Witness statements indicate that the bar’s security was inadequate. They describe it as a cramped place. Samuel M., a 17-year-old Frenchman, explains, “The staircase leading to the first floor, which people tried to use to escape, is very narrow, barely two meters wide,” comparing it to the width of two chairs.
Samuel left the bar five minutes before the fire to accompany a friend who was drunk and feeling unwell, so they both witnessed everything from outside. Inside remained some of his lifelong friends, as he has always spent his holidays there. Some are injured and others are still missing, including the DJ who was playing that day, from whom he has not heard.
“I came back here to pray today because I believe that despite everything we have to keep going, we have to do it for them and their families,” he says calmly, sitting in a chair on the terrace of the place opposite the bar, where the flowers and lit candles that people have been leaving are accumulating.
Nestor F., a 17-year-old French student, is one of the witnesses being questioned by police to help clarify the events. His account also raises doubts about whether the bar was equipped with fire prevention measures. The fire caught him at the door. He was one of the civilians who assisted the injured and called some of their parents. He knows the layout of Le Constellation very well because he has frequented it for some time, and he recounts that he and a friend had to break one of the windows “so that people could get out.”
“The staircase leading to the upper floor is so narrow that it bottlenecked everyone. On the ground floor, the people who were in the bathrooms and the smoking room, by the time they realized what was happening, had very little chance of getting out,” the boy recounts, showing a couple of videos he recorded from outside when the fire broke out.
The police are in possession of these, and they are one of the pieces of evidence that will be used in the investigation. The criminal case opened against the two owners of the bar will help resolve some questions: whether there were fire extinguishers available and why the evacuation route wasn’t used in time. It will also determine whether the flammable material covering the ceiling, which caused the disaster, complied with regulations.
It has not been revealed how many people were inside the venue, which has a capacity of 300, nor how many were on the ground floor, where most were trapped when the fire occurred.
The bar’s owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, a French couple who have lived in this ski resort for some time, are accused of “negligent homicide and negligent arson.” They opened Le Constellation in 2015 after months of renovations. On the bar’s Facebook page, they documented the progress of the work with photos, clearly showing, for example, the installation of the ceiling covering. They own two other establishments in the area. There is silence when young people who frequented the bar or owners of other bars in the area are asked about them: no one knew them, or they know little more than what the press has reported.
A national day of mourning will be observed across the country on January 9, but a large memorial service was held on Sunday at the church in Crans-Montana to honor the victims. The chapel was packed, so loudspeakers were set up outside so that the more than 1,000 people present could follow along. Afterward, everyone marched in silence to gather in front of the destroyed bar. One of the town’s priests spoke a few words, his voice breaking. Rescue teams, police officers, and firefighters who had been on duty that night were present, as well as many young men, some with bandages or using crutches, weeping and embracing their families. The survivors.
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