Overview
- Valais prosecutors named a current security chief and a former fire safety officer as defendants and set hearings for Feb. 6 and Feb. 9, expanding the case beyond the bar’s owners.
- Investigative documents rejected Crans-Montana’s bid to join the case as a plaintiff on Jan. 27, citing possible failures to enforce regulations that protect patrons’ lives.
- France 2 footage from mid-December shows sagging ceiling foam and a chair at an exit, while investigators focus on champagne sparklers likely igniting the sound insulation.
- Owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti remain under investigation for negligent homicide, bodily harm and arson; Jacques left custody on CHF 200,000 bail, with new interviews set for Feb. 11–12.
- Victims’ lawyers fault prosecutors over delayed searches, late phone seizures and a lack of autopsies, as Valais curbs sparkler use and the tourism sector reports cancellations and calls for tighter standards.