Swanky Swiss bar owner fled inferno that killed 41 'without alerting anybody'

The owner of a Swiss bar that burned down, killing 41, fled the venue when she saw the flames, a court heard. The blaze during a New Year’s Eve party at Le Constellation bar in Crans Montana also injured another 115, occurring after staff held champagne bottles with sparklers inside them near the ceiling. Fabrizio Ventimiglia, representing 16-year-old Italian survivor of the incident, Sofia Donadio, said video footage showed Jessica Moretti, the co-owner of the bar with her husband, Jessica, running up the stairs towards the building’s exit upon spotting the fire.

Mrs Moretti claimed she “panicked”, and left the bar to contact the fire service, also claiming that she was going to return when the venue had been evacuated. Mr Ventimiglia said: “What makes me angry is she does not help anyone and does not stop anyone entering — she doesn’t say anything, and I believe she had a moral, ethical and legal obligation to do so.”

He added, according to the Times: “Why didn’t she block people who continued to enter? That’s serious.”

“She is obviously the boss and so it’s logical to assume she was deciding everything,” Mr Ventimiglia, also said.

The Rome Prosecutor’s Office has been put in charge of investigating alleged crimes committed abroad concerning Italian citizens.

The fire’s victim’s include six Italian teenagers.

It comes after the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, advocated a Joint Investigation Team.

Mr and Mrs Moretti face charges of culpable disaster, multiple culpable homicide and grievous bodily harm, Sky News reported.

They also face charges of culpable and negligent manslaughter brought by Swiss prosecutors.

It is also alleged that people inside the bar were given no instructions as to what to do amid the blaze, and extinguishers were not used.

A lawyer representing the couple said in January that they would “continue to comply with all requests from the authorities”.

They added: “Their thoughts remain constantly with the victims of this tragedy.”