Swiss bar manager 'seen escaping with till full of cash' as deadly fire raged through venue, killing 40
Jessica Moretti, 40, is accused of ignoring partygoers as flames engulfed Le Constellation, Crans-Montana, in the Swiss Alps.
The manager of the Swiss bar where 40 people died in a blaze in the early hours of New Year’s Day was allegedly spotted fleeing the fire with a till full of cash.
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Jessica Moretti, 40, is accused of ignoring partygoers as flames engulfed Le Constellation, Crans-Montana, as she made off with money the bar raked in on the night.
Dozens reportedly pleaded for first aid and attempted to flee as flames ripped through the building.
Meanwhile, Moretti was retrieving cash from the register in a hurried attempt to take home the night’s earnings, according to Italian outlet La Repubblica.
The French national reportedly sustained a burn to one of her arms during the fire, and speculation has mounted as to whether this had been “sustained while she was retrieving the cash register”.
The fire, believed to have been started by "flares" placed on top of champagne bottles held too close to the ceiling, spread across the venue in the early hours of January 1.
Ms Moretti is already being investigated for manslaughter, and causing bodily harm to 119 people who were injured in the deadly blaze.
The first funerals for some of the 40 victims killed in the blaze have begun this week as mourners gathered in Milan, Rome and Bologna, to bury the dead.
Read more: Swiss bar had not been inspected for five years prior to fire that killed 40
Most of the injured are in their teens and twenties with severe third-degree burns, police said.
Her husband, Jacques Moretti, 49, co-owns the bar with his wife and also faces charges.
Mr Moretti, who unlike his wife wasn't inside the venue, has since spoken out and defended the bar's health and safety after it emerged the venue was fitted with wooden furnishings and foam-style ceiling material and had only one narrow staircase.
This week, Crans-Montana’s mayor, Nicolas Feraud, revealed that the council had not inspected the bar for five years.
"We regret that - we owe it to the families and we will accept the responsibility," he said.
He continued: "I have no answer for you today."
The couple has claimed they have been left unable to sleep or eat since the tragedy.
They have denied any wrongdoing, telling newspaper 24 Heures:“Everything was done according to the rules.”
In a statement on Tuesday, they said they been left "devastated, invaded by sorrow” and are “thinking constantly of the victims”.
But Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing several of the injured victims, has claimed much of the evidence from the night has been destroyed.
He alleged that the bar’s Facebook and Instagram accounts and website were suspended while firefighters worked to tackle the blaze and rescue victims. The fire started at 1.30am but the accounts were blocked “between 3am and 6.30am”.
“It’s curious that while the emergency operation was under way, someone was thinking about this,” he told The Times.