A surviving employee of the Swiss ski resort bar where 40 people perished in a devastating fire on New Year’s Day has made horrifying claims about the establishment.
On January 18, Louise Leguistin, a 25-year-old French national, described the dangerous working conditions inside the basement nightclub, alleging that the staff was never trained.
Highlights
- Waitress Louise Leguistin revealed that staff at Le Constellation had zero fire safety training or emergency exit knowledge.
- Staff lost over 30 seconds to react because their vision was obscured by costume masks and helmets during a choreographed "bottle parade."
- Investigation confirmed 34 victims passed away on a single staircase that had been narrowed by the owners.
- Co-owner Jacques Moretti is in custody for manslaughter by negligence, while his wife Jessica is accused of fleeing with the cash till during the fire.
The woman was the only employee known to have escaped the fire unharmed.
The only surviving staff member of the Swiss ski resort claimed there was zero fire safety training
Image credits: BFMTV
Speaking to the police for the first time, Louise claimed she started working at the bar on December 11, 2025, and was given no instructions on fire safety, emergency exits, or the use of sparkler candles.
“I didn’t know if there was a fire extinguisher upstairs or downstairs,” she said, according to BFM TV.
“No one ever told me anything about the sparklers.”
Image credits: BFMTV
She further alleged that the staff regularly handled champagne bottles fitted with sparklers as part of choreographed “luxury” service routines, but they were never informed about the risks.
Louise explained that she mistook a service door for an emergency exit and had no idea that a door behind which victims were later found lifeless was locked from the inside.
The survivor claimed that the fire broke out during the bottle parade as the staff’s view was obstructed
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According to Louise, the fire began around 1:10 a.m., when a group of customers requested a bottle parade involving about a dozen champagne bottles brought out at once.
She explained that venue co-owner Jessica Moretti asked staff to “liven things up” after a quiet New Year’s Eve. About seven or eight employees, wearing costumes and masks, formed a procession carrying bottles fitted with lit sparklers.
Image credits: TonyTruant01
She shared that the procession was led by one of the victims, Cyane Panine, who sat on a colleague’s shoulders while holding bottles with lit sparklers.
“All of us were in disguise,” she said. “Helmets, masks — maybe our field of vision was reduced.”
Image credits: TonyTruant01
With loud music playing and staff facing away from the bar area, Louise reported that no one immediately realized the ceiling’s soundproofing foam had caught fire.
“In the videos, you can see the fire start almost immediately,” she said. “We lost 30 to 35 seconds.”
By the time staff noticed, the flames had already spread.
“The smell remains in my nose”: Louise shared the moments of horror after escaping the blaze
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While speaking to the investigators, Louise also shared that the aftermath of the blaze remains vivid in her mind.
“Since the events, I have had great difficulty sleeping,” she said.
“I constantly see the faces of the d*ad, of people I served. The smell remains in my nose.”
Image credits: SuisseAlert
After fleeing the bar, Louise crossed the street to another venue sheltering survivors. She explained seeing severely burned victims everywhere.
“There were burn victims everywhere, and the smell… it was horrific,” she said, adding that mirrors inside the bar reflected people’s injuries at them.
The investigators confirmed 34 out of 40 victims perished while trapped on the staircase
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The investigators have since confirmed that 34 out of 40 victims passed away on the single staircase leading out of the basement, which had reportedly been narrowed by the bar’s owners.
As reported by Bored Panda, Cyane also succumbed after becoming trapped behind a locked service door.
Image credits: BFMTV
Many victims were teenagers, at least 15 were under 18, and eight were younger than 16, per authorities.
Bar co-owner, Jacques Moretti, told investigators he found a pile of bodies when he unlocked the door.
“My stepdaughter Cyane was one of them,” he said, adding that he and her boyfriend attempted to resuscitate her outside for over an hour before paramedics pronounced her deceased.
Image credits: Mind_gymX
Jacques is currently in pre-trial detention and facing charges including manslaughter by negligence. He has been deemed a flight risk and will remain in custody for at least three months ahead of a trial scheduled for March.
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His co-owner, Jessica Moretti, is also under investigation. She has been banned from leaving Switzerland and is alleged to have fled the scene with the bar’s cash register on the night of the fire.
The authorities also confirmed that the venue had not undergone mandatory safety inspections for five years, a failure acknowledged by Crans-Montana Mayor Nicolas Féraud.
"What training, there was only 1 exit open," wrote one netizen
