The owners of a Swiss resort bar where 40 people d!ed in a New Year’s Eve blaze have blamed their helmet-wearing waitress, who was seen holding two flaming champagne bottles in photos from the doomed bash, for sparking the tragic fire that claimed her life and 39 others.
Jacques Moretti, 49, and his wife, Jessica Moretti, 40, appeared in court last week over the deadly fire at the Le Constellation nightclub in Crans-Montana and told prosecutors, “It’s not us, it’s the others,” when asked about responsibility for starting the inferno, French newspaper Le Parisien reported.
The couple, charged with “homicide, injuries and arson by negligence,” blamed their waitress, Cyane Panine, 24, for the fire.
Jacques Moretti told prosecutors that Panine, wearing a black motorcycle helmet, climbed onto a coworker’s shoulders while holding two bottles of champagne topped with pyrotechnic candles, known as “magic fountains.”
Jessica Moretti told prosecutors that the young 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.”
However, Panine’s family revealed the young staffer was not meant to be working that night but was sent by the Morettis from their restaurant to the nightclub, the Standard reported.
They claimed her bosses told her to stay on the ground floor, greeting guests and guiding them to tables with a £900 minimum spend (about $1,240).
The server allegedly complained to her family about being forced to work long hours without breaks and feeling exhausted both physically and mentally.
During the evening, Jessica Moretti allegedly urged Panine to “get the atmosphere going” by wearing the crash helmet, the outlet said.
Surviving witnesses and the waitress’s family have strongly denied the accusations, alleging that Jessica Moretti, the manager that night, directed Panine to carry out the stunt using bottles and a helmet supplied by Dom Pérignon.
“I cannot accept that my daughter is remembered only as the girl with the helmet, with flares in her hands,” her grieving father, Jerome Panine, previously said.
Her mother, Astrid Panine, said her daughter “trusted people without the slightest suspicion. She paid the ultimate price for this with her life.”
“Cyane was spontaneous, radiant, and full of heart,” she said. “She possessed a beauty that went beyond the physical. She embodied it.”
In court, Jacques Moretti acknowledged shortcomings in fire safety, saying, “There was no training, but employees were told what steps to take in case of fire when they were shown around the premises,” according to Le Parisien.
Confronted with claims that a worker did not know where extinguishers were located, he said, “The staff has several shifts, and maybe I forgot to give this information… Maybe I forgot,” Le Parisien reported.
Jacques Moretti also drew attention to a service door on the building’s ground floor that was found locked from the inside, the same door Panine and six other victims tried to escape through during the fire.
He claimed that after the tragedy, an employee delivering ice to Le Constellation closed the door’s top latch without understanding why.
“You shouldn’t run away, you should stay here and take responsibility,” Jacques Moretti allegedly texted the worker.
Denying the allegation, the employee said, “I didn’t close a door that was already locked.”
Jessica Moretti also insisted that “the door was always open.”
“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wonder why that door was closed that night,” she said.
Investigators later found that the owners had renovated the bar in 2015 without informing local officials, including the Cantonal Fire Department, Le Parisien reported.
The Morettis also claimed the flammable soundproofing foam installed during the club’s renovations, believed to have accelerated the fire was approved by fire officials and acoustic experts.
They have drawn widespread backlash since the de@dly fire, especially after reports alleged that witnesses and surveillance footage showed Jessica Moretti escaping the burning venue with the cash register while victims were still inside.
“I accept what’s being said about us, even if it’s false. It’s nothing compared to what the families are going through,” Jacques Moretti said.
“We are also victims, but not to the same degree. Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen.”
The couple has denied all criminal and civil wrongdoing while facing negligence-related charges tied to 40 deaths and severe burns to more than 100 others.
If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison.