"We don't know why": The excuse that killed 40 people

The Swiss commune of Crans-Montana has admitted Tuesday to catastrophic negligence that led to the New Year's Eve inferno at Le Constellation bar, which killed 40 people and injured 116 others. 

In a stunning confession, officials revealed they failed to conduct mandatory safety inspections for five years.

In what can only be described as a shocking admission of municipal incompetence, Crans-Montana President Nicolas Féraud acknowledged that periodic safety and fire inspections were not carried out between 2020 and 2025.

"We deeply regret this," Féraud stated at a press conference in the Alpine resort, before adding an even more disturbing detail: he doesn't know why these critical inspections were never performed.

A municipality that cannot explain why life-saving safety checks were systematically ignored for half a decade is exhibiting behavior that borders on criminal negligence. The admission raises fundamental questions about governance, accountability, and the value placed on public safety in this wealthy resort town.

Facing the inevitable, Féraud and the entire municipal council would announce their resignation. But stepping down cannot erase the 40 lives lost or undo the suffering of 116 injured victims.

Italy Condemns "Preventable" Tragedy

Italian authorities, whose nationals were among the victims, have unleashed scathing criticism of the Swiss handling of the disaster. "This tragedy could have and should have been prevented through prevention and common sense," thundered Italian Ambassador to Switzerland Gian Lorenzo Cornado on Monday.

The ambassador's fury reflects growing international outrage at the systematic failures that turned a New Year's celebration into a funeral.

Owners with Criminal Past, Questionable Connections

The bar is owned by two French nationals, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, who have been under investigation since Saturday for "homicide through negligence, bodily harm through negligence, and arson through negligence."

Remarkably, neither has been placed in pre-trial detention nor under house arrest—a decision that has raised eyebrows, particularly among Italian authorities who view the leniency as inexplicable.

Perhaps more disturbing is Jacques Moretti's criminal background. He has a history with French justice for pimping-related offenses and was incarcerated in Savoie in 2005. Despite this record, Moretti maintained close relationships with Crans-Montana's municipal leadership.

This cozy relationship between convicted criminals and local officials raises troubling questions: Did personal connections override public safety? Were inspections deliberately avoided to protect politically connected business owners?

A System Built on Negligence

The Crans-Montana disaster exposes a toxic combination of municipal incompetence, lax enforcement, and questionable relationships between authorities and business owners with criminal pasts.

Forty people are dead not because of an unavoidable accident, but because a wealthy Swiss commune couldn't be bothered to perform basic safety inspections for five consecutive years. The officials responsible claim ignorance about why these checks were skipped—an excuse that insults the memory of the victims and the intelligence of the public.

Resignations are not enough. This case demands criminal investigations into municipal officials who presided over this deadly neglect, and a thorough examination of how someone with Moretti's background was allowed to operate a crowded nightlife venue without proper oversight.

The victims of Le Constellation deserved better. They deserved a municipality that took safety seriously, officials who did their jobs, and a system that couldn't be corrupted by personal relationships. Instead, they got Crans-Montana.