Crans-Montana mayor Nicolas Feraud was questioned for the first time on Monday by public prosecutors investigating the New Year fire disaster in the Swiss ski resort.
The mayor is one of nine people under criminal investigation over the January 1st bar tragedy, which killed 41 people and injured another 115, many very badly burned.
Feraud arrived for the hearing in Sion, the capital of Valais, without speaking to the media.
“I hope that Mayor Feraud will not be turning a blind eye and that we will finally get answers to our questions,” said Alain Viscolo, one of the lawyers representing the civil parties, ahead of the hearing.
Feraud triggered outrage on January 6th, when he revealed that no annual safety check had been carried out at the bar since 2019.
“Why did he choose to run a service that was apparently under-staffed?” said lawyer Romain Jordan, who represents several victims’ families.
“Why did he allow this culture of lax administration to prevail for so long?
“These are the questions we will be asking.”
The investigation aims to determine the exact circumstances of the fire, the owners’ compliance with regulations and the potential criminal responsibility of local authorities.
Those under investigation include the bar’s French owners — husband and wife Jacques and Jessica Moretti –, who face charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.
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Waiting for answers
The Valais public prosecutor’s office began a new round of hearings in Sion last week, summoning former and current local council officials for the first time.
“We just hope that some will finally speak out,” Nicola Meier, one of the Morettis’ lawyers, said outside Monday’s hearing.
“We’re just waiting for answers to the questions asked.”
Last week, the former head of the Crans-Montana council’s fire safety department exercised his right to remain silent because, his lawyer told AFP, he did not yet have access to the case file.
The deputy to the council’s former head of public safety and a current member of the public safety team were able to be questioned.
A former town councillor is scheduled to be interviewed on Wednesday.
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Jacques Moretti was due to be questioned again last week but the hearing was postponed indefinitely on medical grounds.
Following the fire, seriously wounded patients were airlifted to various hospitals and specialist burns units throughout Switzerland and Europe.
The Federal Office for Civil Protection told AFP that as of Wednesday, 38 patients were still in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics in Switzerland and neighbouring countries.
