Swiss Nightclub Owners Under Investigation After New Year’s Eve Fire Leaves 40 Dead [WATCH]

Swiss prosecutors are investigating the owners of a luxury nightclub in the Alps after a deadly New Year’s Eve fire killed 40 people and injured more than 100 others, with allegations that the manager fled the scene carrying cash and that evidence was later destroyed, as reported by The New York Post.

The fire erupted at Le Constellation, a resort nightclub in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, during New Year’s Eve celebrations that extended into the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Authorities say sparklers attached to champagne bottles ignited the ceiling during the crowded party, triggering a fast-moving blaze that trapped patrons inside.

40 people killed in a Swiss nightclub fire on New Year’s Eve. Early findings point to indoor sparklers igniting flammable ceiling materials. Fire spread in seconds. People had no time. This mirrors the Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island. Same ignition source. Pyrotechnics,… pic.twitter.com/9VzGf1yLT4

— Patriotic American (@firemedic724) January 5, 2026

Jessica Moretti, 40, the manager of Le Constellation, is accused of abandoning customers as the fire spread and fleeing with the night’s cash receipts.

According to Italy’s La Repubblica, multiple witnesses reported seeing Moretti carrying the cash register while patrons struggled to escape the burning club.

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Moretti and her husband, Jacques Moretti, 49, both French nationals, have co-owned the Crans-Montana nightclub since 2015.

Swiss authorities are investigating the couple for manslaughter and for causing bodily harm to at least 119 people who suffered burns during the incident. Many of the injured were teenagers celebrating the holiday in the Swiss Alps.

After the fire, Jessica Moretti told investigators she suffered “slight burns on one arm” while escaping the nightclub, according to La Repubblica.

As authorities began reconstructing the incident using cellphone videos, interior security footage, and streetlight-mounted cameras outside the venue, the couple was accused of destroying potential evidence.

Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing some of the 116 injured victims, said Le Constellation’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended while rescue operations were still ongoing.

Jordan told The Times of London that the fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day and alleged that the club blocked its social media accounts between 3 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.

He said the club’s website was also taken offline during that period, even as emergency crews worked to extinguish the flames and rescue survivors.

If a fire starts in a nightclub run .. alcohol is fuel for a fire.

You do not dance around ! This is the footage of the Swiss ski resort fire pic.twitter.com/modwbTS200

— Maverick (@Mavericks100xs) January 3, 2026

According to Jordan, the suspended accounts contained videos from the packed New Year’s Eve celebration and earlier festivities. He argued that their removal suggested that security concerns “came to the managers’ minds straight away.”

“My clients want answers,” Jordan said.

“They want the chain of responsibility that led to this drama to be clearly established. The managers are being investigated, but the council must be investigated, too. No questions must be ignored.”

Jacques Moretti told Swiss outlet La Tribune de Genève after the fire that “everything was done according to the regulations” and said the nightclub had been inspected three times over the past decade.

He was not inside the club when the fire broke out.

However, Jordan has called on prosecutors to intensify their investigation into the Crans-Montana council after officials acknowledged the venue had not undergone a safety inspection since 2019.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Morettis said they were “devastated” by the tragedy and were thinking of the victims.

They pledged to cooperate with investigators and said they would “in no way” seek to avoid responsibility, according to The Times.

Other attorneys representing victims have criticized Swiss prosecutors for not keeping the couple in custody, warning they could flee to France, which rarely extradites its own citizens.

Jordan said he was “surprised” prosecutors did not require the Morettis to deposit money with the court as a bail condition.

French newspaper Le Parisien reported that Jacques Moretti has a criminal history spanning more than two decades.

“He is known for pimping cases dating back some twenty years, as well as for a kidnapping and confinement case. He was imprisoned in Savoie,” the outlet reported.

Belgian broadcaster RTL also cited a legal source who said Moretti’s prison sentence involved “cases of pimping, fraud, kidnapping and false imprisonment.”

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