\n
<\/p>\n
Crans-Montana <\/a>Mayor Nicolas Feraud said Monday he had not known that safety checks had not been carried out for six years at a Swiss ski resort bar where a fire<\/a> killed 41 people during New Year<\/a> celebrations.<\/p>\n Feraud was questioned for the first time by public prosecutors investigating the blaze that swept through Le Constellation bar in a disaster that shocked Switzerland<\/a>.<\/p>\n He had said the day after the fire on January 1 that safety inspections had not been carried out at the bar in upscale Crans-Montana since 2019, despite a requirement for annual checks from local authorities.<\/p>\n The mayor<\/a> is one of nine people under criminal investigation<\/a> over the tragedy, which left 115 people injured, many of them badly burned, in addition to the dozens killed.<\/p>\n Read more<\/span>\u2018You killed my brother’: Bereaved families confront Crans-Montana bar owners<\/a><\/p>\n Feraud’s lawyer Christian Delaloye said his client had not been informed about the lack of inspection “before January 2” and had provided his staff with the resources to carry out checks.<\/p>\n The investigation aims to determine the exact circumstances of the fire, the owners’ compliance with regulations and the potential criminal responsibility of local authorities.<\/p>\n Those under investigation include the bar’s French owners — husband and wife Jacques and Jessica Moretti — who face charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.<\/p>\n Several of the plaintiffs’ lawyers said they were frustrated at a lack of clear explanations.<\/p>\n “We didn’t get answers to the key question – why there were no inspections for six years,” said Alain Viscolo, one of the lawyers representing the civil parties, ahead of the hearing.<\/p>\n “We were given information about the public safety system in Crans-Montana, but we end up with a whole plethora of people in charge who are ultimately responsible for very little,” he said.<\/p>\n Read more<\/span>Crans-Montana fire: hearings continue with Morettis under questioning<\/a><\/p>\n “I can’t say I’m satisfied with the answers that have been given,” said lawyer Romain Jordan, who represents several victims’ families.<\/p>\n “However, the reality is that we’re getting a closer look at the dynamics of negligence that led to this tragedy.”<\/p>\n Prosecutors believe the fire started when champagne<\/a> bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to the ceiling in the bar’s basement level, igniting the sound-insulation foam.<\/p>\n The Wallis public prosecutor’s office began a new round of hearings in Sion last week, summoning former and current local council officials for the first time.<\/p>\n Read more<\/span>Handling of Crans-Montana investigation sparks diplomatic spat with Italy<\/a><\/p>\n Last week, the former head of the Crans-Montana council’s fire safety department exercised his right to remain silent because, his lawyer told AFP, he did not yet have access to the case file.<\/p>\n The deputy to the council’s former head of public safety and a current member of the public safety team were able to be questioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n A former town councillor is scheduled to be interviewed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Co-owner Jacques Moretti was due to be questioned again last week but the hearing was postponed indefinitely on medical grounds.<\/p>\n Following the fire, seriously wounded patients were airlifted to various hospitals and specialist burns units throughout Switzerland and Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Federal Office for Civil Protection told AFP that as of Wednesday, 38 patients were still in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics in Switzerland and neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n‘Negligence’\u00a0<\/h2>\n