A feeling of “anger,” “shame,” and incomprehension spread through the streets and shops of Crans-Montana on Tuesday, January 6, six days after the tragedy at Le Constellation bar, where a fire claimed 40 lives and injured 116 people during the night of Wednesday, December 31, to Thursday, January 1. “In my apartment, just like in my shop, they come to check my outlets or my chimney every two years,” said a shopkeeper, who requested anonymity, like the vast majority of residents and regulars of the Valais winter sports resort in Switzerland. “How is that possible?”

“That” referred to the statements by the town’s mayor Nicolas Féraud, who admitted during a morning press conference that Crans-Montana’s municipal services had not carried out any safety inspections at Le Constellation since 2019, even though local regulations require annual checks. “Shocked by the mayor’s lack of answers to the families,” an employee of a resort shop described a “growing sense of revolt with each passing day.”

“Periodic inspections were not carried out from 2020 to 2025. We deeply regret this,” said Féraud, adding that he did not know why these inspections had not taken place. The various municipal safety officials who had checked the bar, which opened in 2015, “should have been more attentive” during their visits, Féraud conceded. He assured that the municipality “will accept whatever responsibility the courts determine.”

You have 73.48% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.