Crans-Montana, the municipality: 'No control at the venue from 2020'

"We have 11 patients admitted. Some more serious, some less. But certainly 11 critical patients on whom we still maintain a reserved prognosis". Thus Alberto Zoli, Niguarda's general manager, in a press point on the injured of Crans-Montana who have been admitted to the Milan hospital. "Their conditions vary from very extensive burns, even 70%, to much less extensive burns but with compromised vital functions. That is why they are all patients who are still in a critical condition but who may have a hopefully positive evolution in the next few hours,' he added. 'We still have patients admitted in intensive care, others in semi-intensive or less intensive care. They are certainly receiving all the necessary care, but we must emphasise once again that we are talking about large burn victims with sometimes compromised vital functions such as breathing. Since this is the picture, the prognosis remains reserved

In the meantime, the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, will most likely be in Switzerland next Friday, 9 January, to attend the ceremony organised by the Federal President to remember the victims of the Crans-Montana accident. This is according to diplomatic circles. The Swiss Confederation has invited the heads of state and government of the countries affected by the Crans Montana tragedy for the day of mourning on 9 January, which "will deliberately have an international dimension".

In the last few hours, the Attorney General of the Canton of Valais, Béatrice Pilloud, has made it known that the remainder of the investigation will also focus on 'the analysis of the file obtained by the municipality' (in Switzerland, it is the local authorities that are responsible for fire safety inspections). The statement came after the municipality, led by the mayor Nicolas Féraud, had announced in recent days its intention to become a civil party in the proceedings against the Morettis. According to the Swiss newspaper Rts, on 19 December, less than two weeks before the fire, the manager had applied for a further extension of the premises. The changes would have included the removal of a side exit from the covered terrace. This closure, in the case of the fire on 1 January, would have prevented even more people from escaping quickly. The renovation work carried out in 2015, detailed in the building permit applied for for the new extension, is also sifted through. The interior door of the bar measures one and a half metres, 'with a non-compliant opening' - according to Swiss TV - as it should open wide in the direction of escape, and not inwards. The same applies to the veranda door. Another question concerns the authorisation of the work ten years ago. At that time, the sound-absorbing foam from which the New Year's Eve fire broke out was supposedly installed. Its flammability was apparently already known, as demonstrated in a video from 1 January 2020 circulated in the Swiss media: 'Watch out for the foam! Watch out for the foam!" the bartender shouted at the young people who were lifting bottles of alcohol with the now well-known pyrotechnic candles.

The installation of this material - again according to Swiss TV - was not part of the building permit applied for in 2015 by a resident of Crans Montana who was the owner of the walls, and not by Mr and Mrs Moretti. An application that, according to Rts, would in any case have been submitted three months after a small excavator arrived on site. In addition to the sound-absorbing foam, the work would have concerned the terrace, which had been modified, and the basement staircase, which had been narrowed.

Questions to which Attorney General Pilloud is trying to give an answer. After explaining that there are no terms for taking the Morettis, who are both under investigation, to prison - in particular, the danger of absconding is missing - Ambassador Gian Lorenzo Cornado spoke on the subject today. The managers 'in Italy would be arrested', but in Switzerland there 'are different procedures', he explained at the cemetery in Sion. "The families of the victims are demanding justice," he added after accompanying the close relatives of the five repatriated dead to the C-130 that took off for Linate. In any case, 'the Swiss authorities have assured me of their full cooperation,' he stressed once he had met the heads of the executive of the Canton Valais. However, the investigation is only just beginning: it will take 'an enormous amount of time. This is real life, not a 45-minute TV series,' Pilloud recalled.

Following the New Year's Eve fire in Crans-Montana, "the Paris public prosecutor's office has launched a 'mirror' (parallel) investigation to accompany the French families in the investigations conducted by the Swiss authorities". Thus Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau. "The Swiss authorities," she pointed out, "remain competent to investigate the course of events and search for possible responsibility". The aim is to "allow the French victims and their families to benefit from a common interlocutor in France and to facilitate their exchanges with the Swiss authorities if necessary."