A fire has destroyed a memorial dedicated to the 41 victims who died in the tragic nightclub blaze during a New Year’s Eve celebration in Switzerland.
A tent memorial filled with flowers, candles and tribute messages went up in flames just before 6 a.m. Sunday in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, near the Le Constellation nightclub, according to the Valais Cantonal Police.
The blaze was quickly brought under control thanks to the “swift intervention” of emergency crews, authorities said.
No injuries were reported, but “commemorative objects were damaged by the flames,” officials said. A remembrance book containing condolence messages survived.
Investigators do not believe the memorial fire was deliberate, saying it was likely ignited by candles placed on a table at the center of the shrine.
The memorial honored the 41 victims and more than 100 people injured in the deadly New Year’s Eve blaze at La Constellation.
Authorities said sparkling candles placed in champagne bottles during the celebration likely ignited foam soundproofing lining the bar’s basement ceiling.
The tragedy was compounded by a locked service door that could have served as an escape route, blocking another potential exit, officials said.
Harrowing video from the night shows partygoers desperately climbing over one another as they fought to escape the raging inferno.
Investigators later found the owners had renovated the bar in 2015 without informing local officials, including the Cantonal Fire Department, Le Parisien reported.
In the weeks since the deadly blaze, the bar owners, Jacques Moretti, 49, and Jessica Moretti, 40, have faced mounting public scrutiny after blaming their helmet-wearing waitress, Cyane Panine, 24, for sparking the fire that claimed her life.
Leaked interrogation files reviewed by Le Parisien reveal the French nationals repeatedly telling prosecutors, “It’s not us, it’s the others.”
Jacques Moretti also told prosecutors that Panine climbed onto a co-worker’s shoulders while holding two bottles of champagne topped with pyrotechnic candles, known as “magic fountains.”
“I didn’t forbid her from doing that,” he admitted. “I didn’t make her aware of any safety instructions. We didn’t see the danger. Cyane enjoyed doing it. It was a show, she loved performing.”
Jessica Moretti reiterated her husband’s defense in court on Jan. 20, claiming the waitress “liked to deliver these bottles, she did it of her own accord.”
“If I had thought of the slightest risk, I would have forbidden it,” she said. “In 10 years of running the business, I never thought there could be any danger.”
The couple has been charged with negligent manslaughter, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson.
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