TRAPPED BY A COLLAPSING STAIRCASE — It’s emerged that 34 victims of the Swiss bar inferno diɘd as a renovated escape staircase fell apart while they tried to flee

The majority of the 40 victims of the New Year’s fire in a Swiss bar died as they attempted to flee the burning building via a renovated staircase that ‘fell apart’, it emerged today.

Horrific new details of the basement inferno in Le Constellation, in the ski resort of Crans Montana, were released on Monday, as its owner, 49-year-old Jacques Moretti, prepared to appear in court.

He is in custody and facing a range of charges, including ‘manslaughter by negligence’, along with his wife and co-owner, Jessica Moretti, 40.

Investigators have now established that 34 of those who died in the early hours of January 1 perished on the cramped stairwell that had been narrowed by two-thirds by its owner.

It led up from the basement, where the fire was allegedly triggered by sparklers in champagne bottles that ignited foam soundproof cladding in the ceiling.

‘This amounts to 85 per cent of the dead,’ said one enquiry source. ‘They were trapped on the tiny staircase as everyone fought to get out, but they were unable to escape.

‘Many were forced back into the basement when the stairwell became completely overcrowded and fell apart. It had been significantly reduced in size by the owners.’

Swiss law enforcement officers found numerous bodies at the bottom of the staircase after the wooden steps and handrails collapsed.

The fire was allegedly triggered by sparklers in champagne bottles that ignited foam soundproof cladding in the ceiling

Owners of Le Constellation bar Jacques Moretti (L) and Jessica Moretti (C) arrive for a hearing at the Office of the public prosecutor of the Canton of Valais, in Sion, on January 9, 2026

They could not withstand the pressure of the fleeing crowd, detached from the wall, and plunged into the basement.

Jacques Moretti has admitted to reducing the width of the stairwell from three metres to just one metre.

He carried out the renovations himself when he took over management of the Constellation in 2015, and it is not known whether he had planning permission or not.

According to multiple enquiry sources who have spoken to the media in France and Italy, the modification ‘played a decisive role in the disaster’.

When questioned by prosecutors on Friday, Jacques Moretti did not discuss the stairwell renovation, but he admitted that a ‘ground-floor service door’ was locked from the inside when the fire started.

He said that he forced it open upon arriving at the scene and found victims dying from suffocation behind it.

Mr Moretti said he did not know why the door was locked, and, along with his wife, has denied any civil or criminal wrongdoing.

Manager of Swiss bar, 40, ‘seen fleeing burning building with till full of cash’ as blaze took hold

He will appear before prosecutors in Sion today, as judges decide whether to extend his custody period.

The sparklers are thought to have lit soundproofing foam in the ceiling, triggering a massive fire in which, beyond the dead, 116 others were also severely burned.

Mr Moretti’s wife is said to have driven herself home within minutes of the fire breaking out, after allegedly escaping as quickly as possible from the bar with the till containing the night’s cash takings.

She has been bailed with an electronic bracelet.

Both Morettis told how they first rented the Costellation in 2015, when they ‘renovated it from A to Z,’ including ‘the flooring, the furniture, and the bar itself,’ including replacing the foam in the ceiling.

‘The fire service carried out two or three fire inspections in ten years of operation, without ever requiring any requests for renovations or modifications to the premises,’ said Mr Moretti, who admitted there was no sprinkler system, or even fire extinguishers.

Asked if employees were trained in fire safety, he replied: ‘No’.

It comes after the couple told how a waitress they viewed as ‘a stepdaughter’ suffocated ‘in a pile of bodies behind a locked door’.

Footage of the tragedy shows flames ripping through the Crans-Montana club as revellers continue singing, dancing and shouting – unaware they are trapped in extreme danger

In video footage, someone can be seen trying desperately to extinguish the fire, but within seconds it takes hold, erupting into a deadly fireball that engulfs the packed bar

The owners of the Swiss bar told how a waitress they viewed as ‘a stepdaughter’ suffocated ‘in a pile of bodies behind a locked door’

Providing their most detailed account of the disaster to date, Jacques and Jessica Moretti said Cyane Panine’s last minutes alive encapsulated the full horror of the evening.

Cyane had been encouraged by Ms Moretti to ‘get the atmosphere going’ at Le Constellation, in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

This included getting waitresses to put sparklers in champagne bottles, before some were lifted on the shoulders of waiters in the bar’s basement.

Following the devastating blaze, Mr Moretti eventually broke open the door to the basement from the outside, and found Cyane dying, while surrounded by ‘a pile of bodies’.

On Friday, Mr Moretti told the Vallais public prosecutor’s office in nearby Sion he only became aware the bar’s ‘service door’ was ‘locked from the inside and on a latch’ after the fire.

Recalling how he found Cyane dying, Mr Moretti said: ‘I went out onto the patio [behind the bar]. All the windows were open.

Swiss inferno bar waitress suffocated ‘in a pile of bodies behind a locked door’, owners say

‘There were a lot of people there. I tried to get inside, but it was impossible. There was far too much smoke.’

Pointing to the ‘service door’ rather than an exit, Mr Moretti said it was ‘closed and locked from the inside with a latch, whereas it usually wasn’t.

‘We forced it open – it finally gave way in a few seconds. When the door opened, several people were lying on the floor, unconscious.

‘My stepdaughter Cyane was one of them. We pulled them all outside and put them in the recovery position.’

Cyane, a French national like the Morettis, died within the hour.

Mr Moretti said he and Cyane’s boyfriend ‘tried to resuscitate her for more than an hour in the street near the bar, until the emergency services told us it was too late’.

The couple, who are both French and from the island of Corsica, are suspected of ‘negligent manslaughter, causing bodily harm negligently, and negligent arson’.

Mr Moretti is an ex-pimp, with a series of convictions and prison spells behind him, while his wife is said to have a clean record with the police.

The investigation into the fire continues.