Recently unearthed CCTV footage from a fortnight before the tragic blaze at a club in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, reveals troubling safety breaches. The video shows a chair obstructing an emergency exit and staff using pool cues to secure sagging insulation foam.
The footage has surfaced amid accusations from the club’s proprietors, Jacques Moretti and his wife Jessica, who have pointed fingers at their youthful team, accusing them of instigating the fire and blocking an escape route.
Broadcasted by France 2, the video depicts a nightclub worker attempting to push back loose insulation on the ceiling by using pool cues and paper towels.
Additionally, a photograph captures a chair strategically placed against an emergency exit door.
In one segment, employee Gaëtan Thomas-Gilbert records the scene and sends it to Jacques Moretti, who responds with, “Yeah, that looks OK. Take the others off, please.”
Thomas-Gilbert, who suffered critical injuries during the fire, had previously expressed to his father his unease about the club’s safety measures and his intention to leave his position.
The devastating fire on New Years Eve killed 40 people and injured over 100.
Jaques and Jessica Moretti have been charged by Swiss prosecutors with negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson.
A video released by channel France2 appears to show a staff member at the nightclub pushing drooping insulation panels on the ceiling back into place
One photo also shows a chair propped against an emergency exit
The Moretti’s are being questioned by prosecutors constantly and leaked interview records point to them saying, ‘It’s not us, it’s the others’, Le Parisien reported on Tuesday.
Their defence strategy during some 20 hours of interrogation by three prosecutors was – in particular – to blame waitress Cyane Panine, 24, for getting on to the shoulders of a colleague while brandishing two champagne bottles with lit sparklers inside.
Cyane, who died in the fire, was wearing a promotional crash helmet, and did not see the pyrotechnics lighting up the bar’s basement ceiling, which was covered in highly flammable foam.
Referring to the champagne sparklers stunt, Jacques Moretti told the enquiry that it was ‘Cyane’s show’.
‘I didn’t forbid her from doing that,’ he told prosecutors, adding: ‘I didn’t make her pay attention to safety instructions. We didn’t see the danger. Cyane liked doing that – it was a show, she liked to be part of the show.’
Jessica Moretti, who was at the same hearing on January 20, said: ‘Cyane liked to deliver these bottles – she did it of her own accord.
‘If I had thought there was the slightest risk, I would have forbidden it. In ten years of running the business, I never thought there could be any danger.’
Cyane’s family are amongst those who have vehemently denied the Moretti’s claims, and they are supported by witnesses who survived the blaze.
They say it was Jessica Moretti who sent Cyane out with the bottles, and encouraged her to perform the stunt using a helmet provided by Dom Perignon.
Regarding fire safety, Jacques Moretti said: ‘There was no training, but employees were told what steps to take in case of fire when they were shown around the premises.
‘Evacuate the customers, raise the alarm, and call the fire department,’ he said, adding: ‘And of course, if they had time, use the fire extinguishers to put out the fire.’
The Moretti’s defence strategy during some 20 hours of interrogation by three prosecutors was – in particular – to blame waitress Cyane Panine (pictured) for the fire
Cyane, 24, was filmed wearing the crash helmet from Dom Perignon, the Champagne brand, as she was lifted onto the shoulders of Mateo Lesguer, 23, the in-house DJ
Owners of Le Constellation bar Jacques Moretti (L) and Jessica Moretti arrive for a hearing at the Office of the public prosecutor of the Canton of Valais, in Sion, on January 9
When told that one employee, referred to only as L, had told the enquiry that he had no idea where the extinguishers were kept, Jacques Moretti replied: ‘The staff has several shifts, and maybe I forgot to give this information to L, but it was going to be passed on at some point. Maybe I forgot.’
Both Morettis also blamed an unidentified staff member for locking an escape door in the basement.
‘The door was always open,’ Jessica Moretti told the enquiry. ‘There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wonder why that door was closed that night. We always said that the door was always open, and it was taken for granted.’
In turn, Jacques Moretti said: ‘After the tragedy, we learned that an employee delivered ice cubes to the Constellation and, without understanding why, closed the latch at the top of the door.’
Jacques Moretti said he later sent a text message to this employee, saying: ‘You shouldn’t run away, you should stay here and take responsibility.’
When contacted by Le Parisien, the staff member concerned vehemently denied all wrongdoing, saying: ‘I didn’t close a door that was already locked.’
Regarding the inflammable foam – which was installed at Le Constellation during renovations in 2015 – Jacques Moretti said: ‘The fire chief and the fire captain approved it.’
