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Owner of Swiss bar where deadly New Year’s fire killed 40 detained by prosecutors: Officials

Owners of "Le Constellation" bar Jacques Moretti and Jessica Moretti arrive for a hearing at the Office of the public prosecutor of the Canton of Valais in Sion on Jan. 9, 2026. The French couple, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, have been called in for questioning after 40 people, most of them teenagers, were killed, while 116 were injured in a fire that ripped through a bar in the luxury Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana on New Year's Eve. — Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

By ABC News

Published January 9, 2026 10:18 AM

Jacques Moretti was placed in pre-trial detention on Friday, officials said.

By Nadine El-Bawab and Aicha El Hammar Castano

January 9, 2026, 9:34 AM

Prosecutors on Friday detained the owner of a Swiss bar where a deadly New Year's Day fire killed 40 people and injured 116 others, according to officials.

Jacques Moretti was placed in pre-trial detention after a meeting with prosecutors in Sion, the prosecutor's office for Switzerland's Valais region said.

The blaze ripped through Le Constellation, a popular bar in the resort town of Crans-Montana in the Swiss Alps, early on Jan. 1.

Around 40 killed, 115 hurt in Swiss resort bar blaze on New Year's Day, police say

PHOTO: Owners of "Le Constellation" bar Jacques Moretti and Jessica Moretti arrive for a hearing at the Office of the public prosecutor of the Canton of Valais in Sion on Jan. 9, 2026. — Owners of "Le Constellation" bar Jacques Moretti and Jessica Moretti arrive for a hearing at the Office of the public prosecutor of the Canton of Valais in Sion on Jan. 9, 2026. The French couple, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, have been called in for questioning after 40 people, most of them teenagers, were killed, while 116 were injured in a fire that ripped through a bar in the luxury Alpine ski resor...Show moreFabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

Moretti's wife and business partner Jessica Moretti also attended the meeting but was not detained, according to the office. She was present at the bar during the fire and was burned on her arm.

"My constant thoughts are with the victims and those who are fighting today. This is an unimaginable tragedy," Moretti told reporters outside the prosecutor's office.

In this screenshot from a video provided by the Valais Cantonal Police, emergency workers respond to a scene where a fire broke out overnight at Le Constellation bar, on Jan. 1, 2026, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.Valais Cantonal Police via Getty Images

The bar had not been inspected in the last five years, Swiss officials said at a press conference earlier this week.

"There was a culture of reckless risk-taking", Nicolas Féraud, the municipal chief of Crans-Montana, said at a press conference earlier this week. "This endangered customers and staff," he said.

Féraud said that the municipal government had "never received any alerts" about problems in the bar. He also confirmed that there was an emergency exit in the basement, but could not say whether it was open, closed or blocked.

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge during a New Year's celebration, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Jan. 1, 2026.Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP

The blaze of "undetermined origin" broke out at the bar at about 1:30 a.m. local time on Jan. 1, the Cantonal Police of Valais said in a statement at the time of the fire.

On Jan. 2, the Valais attorney general told reporters that investigators are "pursuing several hypotheses" based on evidence they've gathered.

"We currently assume that the fire was caused by sparklers attached to champagne bottles that came too close to the ceiling," she said at a news conference.

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