"Not noticed at all" Investigation files contain serious accusations from bar patrons
New investigations by RTS further incriminate the security situation in the "Le Constellation" bar. During interviews, several guests stated that they had not noticed any emergency exits or escape route signals in the basement.
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- According to RTS research, several guests did not see any emergency exits or corresponding signs in the basement of "Le Constellation".
- The statements come from police interviews and are part of the investigation files.
- The operators deny the allegations and state that the exits were correctly marked.
New witness statements are coming into focus in connection with the fire disaster in Crans-Montana. As reported by RTS, the investigation files contain several statements from guests who claim not to have noticed any emergency exits in the basement of the "Le Constellation" bar.
According to RTS, the dossier comprises around 350 pages and contains the minutes of more than a dozen police interviews. Almost all of the statements come from people who were in the basement on New Year's Eve. The fire spread particularly quickly there.
According to the minutes, a 16-year-old visitor said that many people had tried to escape through the only entrance door. "I'm not sure if there was even an emergency exit door in the basement," she is quoted as saying. A 17-year-old made similar comments. He had been in the basement shortly before the fire and was "surprised by the lack of escape routes".
A former service employee who was in the restaurant on the evening of the fire stated that she had not noticed any visible safety equipment. When asked by the investigators whether fire extinguishers, emergency exit signs or other devices had been visible, she answered in the negative, according to the files.
Earlier descriptions of chaotic scenes
Other statements also point in this direction. Several interviewees stated that they had not seen any green emergency exit signs or corresponding markings. Whether the exits were poorly signaled, obscured by smoke or whether other factors played a role is currently unclear.
The defense lawyers of the accused operators did not wish to comment on the witness statements when asked by RTS. They had previously stated that the emergency exit in the basement had been open. Bar owner Jacques Moretti himself had also told investigators that the bar had two emergency exits and was equipped in accordance with legal regulations.
Shortly after the fire disaster, survivors and eyewitnesses told the media about chaotic scenes inside the bar. Several young guests described how thick smoke had spread within seconds and it was practically impossible to find your way around the basement bar. One 17-year-old survivor said she could hardly breathe and was pushed to the floor by the crowd, while others desperately searched for a way out.
Other visitors also reported in the days following the disaster that they had not noticed any clearly marked escape routes. Some guests said that they did not know where to go in an emergency. One young man explained that he had finally smashed a window to get outside as he had seen no other exit. Several eyewitnesses described the situation as panicked and confusing.
Significantly more people present than permitted?
There were also early indications that the basement restaurant could have been very busy. One eyewitness said that at times there were significantly more people in the basement than officially permitted. The responsible authorities have neither confirmed nor denied this information to date.
The question of the actual visibility and accessibility of the escape routes is now part of the ongoing criminal investigation. The operators of "Le Constellation" are presumed innocent until a final verdict is reached.
