This morning, a wave of grief and anger swept over the prosecutor’s office in Sion as the families of victims from the tragic New Year’s Eve fire at a Swiss nightclub confronted the club’s owners. The devastating incident at Le Constellation in Crans-Montana claimed 41 lives and left 115 others injured.
Jacques and Jessica Moretti, the proprietors of the nightclub, faced a throng of distraught relatives as they arrived for their fourth day of questioning. The mourners, many wearing clothes adorned with pictures of their lost loved ones, gathered in force outside the building, seeking answers and accountability.
Under judicial supervision, the Morettis have pointed fingers at a waitress who perished in the blaze. However, this explanation has done little to quell the outrage among the bereaved families, who hold the couple responsible for the catastrophe.
As the Morettis approached the entrance, escorted only by a police officer and their lawyer, the scene quickly turned chaotic. According to reports, the couple found themselves overwhelmed by the emotional crowd. “It was a real mob. The Morettis… had hardly any protection when the relatives’ anger erupted. Everyone rushed at the innkeepers, who were pushed against the building’s wall and couldn’t get away,” a witness described the tense moments to 20 Minuten.
Amid the tumult, the air was filled with shouts and accusations. One heartbroken parent’s voice rose above the rest, crying out, “You killed my son, you killed 40 people, you will pay for this.” The Morettis, visibly shaken, sought refuge behind their lawyer as the confrontation unfolded.
Angry relatives hurled insults towards the pair as they cowered behind their lawyer, with one sobbing parent heard yelling: ‘You killed my son, you killed 40 people, you will pay for this’.
Ms Moretti, 40, appeared close to tears as she waded through the mob, and the brother of one of the 17-year-old victims, Trystan, even allegedly attempted to kick her after repeatedly asking her to look him in the eye.
Trystan’s mother, Vinciane Stucky, who was also present this morning, told local media: ‘We will neither forgive nor forget.’
As Jacques and Jessica Moretti arrived at the prosecutor’s office in Sion for their fourth day of questioning, dozens of grieving relatives swarmed around the building’s entrance wearing clothing bearing images of their deceased loved ones
The pair, who have pinned the blame on a waitress who also died in the fire, are under judicial supervision following the inferno which killed 41 people and injured 115 others at Le Constellation in the ski resort of Crans-Montana on January 1
Angry relatives hurled insults towards the pair as they cowered behind their lawyer, with one sobbing parent heard yelling: ‘You killed my son, you killed 40 people, you will pay for this’
Family members of victims of the deadly fire at the ‘Le Constellation’ bar in Crans-Montana hug ahead of the hearing before the public prosecutor of the canton of Valais of the owners of the bar, Jacques and Jessica Moretti
‘I want Jessica Moretti to know how hard she has hit fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters,’ said Trystan’s father on Thursday morning
Christian Pidoux (R), who lost his son Trystan in the fire, cries ahead of a hearing at the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Canton of Valais in Sion on February 12, 2026
‘I’m here for Trystan,’ said his father, Christian Podoux. ‘I want Jessica Moretti to know how hard she has hit fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. She distanced herself, left the Constellation. Others, the young people, helped so much, and she just left. That’s not right.’
The teenage victim’s younger siblings, Tobyas, 14, and Yaelle, 15, were also present alongside their parents as they joined the raging crowd upon the Morettis’ arrival.
‘We want Jessica Moretti to apologise,’ they told local reporters. ‘I’m Trystan’s little brother, and I came here to show Jessica Moretti that she has destroyed families, to look us in the eye.’
Tobyas added: ‘What happened isn’t normal. We want justice. Moretti is undoubtedly guilty, as are the municipality of Crans-Montana and the canton of Valais.’
The French couple have firmly blamed their young staff for causing the inferno and blocking an escape exit, with leaked interview records pointing to them saying: ‘It’s not us, it’s the others’.
The Morettis’ defence strategy during some 20 hours of interrogation by three prosecutors was, in particular, to blame waitress Cyane Panine, 24, for getting onto 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 – which was filmed – Mr 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.’
She previously claimed: ‘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.’
The French couple is under criminal investigation, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence, and arson by negligence.
They face up to 20 years in prison if charged and found guilty of manslaughter.
