Swiss bar owners detained as investigation into deadly New Year fire continues

Jacques Moretti, co-owner of a bar where 40 people died in a fire on New Year's Day, has been arrested a Swiss prosecutor has said.

Valais region chief prosecutor Beatrice Pilloud said it had been requested that Mr Moretti was held in pre-trial detention over a "risk of flight".

She added that prosecutors had decided that his wife Jessica Moretti, also a co-owner of Le Constellation bar, should be kept under house arrest.

The couple are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm, and involuntarily causing a fire following the blaze in Crans-Montana.

The fire at Le Constellation bar in the early hours of New Year's Day also injured a total of 116 people. Most of the victims were teenagers.

Mr and Mrs Moretti did not answer questions from reporters ahead of their hearing at the prosecutor's office on Friday morning, They have previously expressed their grief over the fire and said that they would cooperate with the investigation.

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Moretti said: "My thoughts are constantly with the victims of this unimaginable tragedy that took place in our establishment, and I would like to apologise to all the victims and those who are still struggling today."

The news came as Switzerland marked a national day of mourning over the fire, with French President Emmanuel Macron appearing at a ceremony in Martigny.

Victims' families and firefighters carried white roses at the ceremony, where a minute's silence was held.

The mayor of Crans-Montana apologised this week after it emerged that Le Constellation bar had not been inspected since 2019.

"We are profoundly sorry," Nicolas Feraud told reporters on Tuesday. "We did not have an indication that the checks had not been done."

The mayor also said at a news conference that inspectors considered the bar's soundproof foam - which ignited rapidly after the fire started - to be acceptable at the time, and that a fire alarm was not required due to the bar's size.

Mr Feraud added that authorities had closed another bar run by Mr and Mrs Moretti, and that all sparkler candles had been banned inside the town's venues.