Helmet-wearing waitress who has been blamed for igniting fire at Swiss bar ‘was locked in a bitter employment row with owners’

The waiter accused of igniting the deadly New Year’s Eve fire at a Swiss bar was involved in a bitter business dispute with the bar’s owners and was in no way their friend, his family has revealed.

Frenchwoman Cyane Panine, 24, died in the inferno at Le Constellation in the Crans-Montana ski resort after she was filmed holding two champagne bottles adorned with sparklers while sitting on the shoulders of a colleague.

Pyrotechnics are said to have set fire to foam used for soundproofing in the basement ceiling, killing 40 people and horribly burning 116 others.

The bar’s owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are on trial on multiple charges including ‘manslaughter by negligence’ and have repeatedly claimed that Cyane is like their ‘step-daughter’ and ‘sister’ to them.

But Cyane’s family’s lawyer, Sophie Haenni, told news channel BFM TV on Wednesday that this was wrong.

Instead, Cyane had contacted the ‘labor protection service’ regarding his working conditions and requested a ‘contract, employment certificate and salary certificate’.

He was entitled to all of these documents under Swiss law, but the Morettis seemed reluctant to give them to him or pay him a reasonable fee.

Mr Moretti, who will remain in pre-trial detention for at least the next three months and has also served prison time for previous criminal convictions including pimping, was accused of regularly abusing staff.

While Cyane and the Morettis were said to have officially addressed each other in the messages, the 24-year-old also complained about the ‘orders’ given to him by Ms. Moretti.

High-quality photos show the first moments of the Swiss Constellation Bar fire in Crans-Montana

Pyrotechnics are thought to have burned soundproof foam in the ceiling, causing a massive fire that left 116 people seriously burned.

Cyane’s parents, Jérôme and Astrid Cyane, are particularly angry about the tear-filled, highly emotional words spoken by Ms. Moretti when she appeared in court last week.

That’s when he referred to Cyane as “sister” and said that just before his death on January 1, he asked her to “revive the atmosphere” at Le Constellation.

Ms. Moretti admitted that she knew that the champagne sparkler display was taking place regularly, despite the great danger.

He also offered a discreet apology for what happened on New Year’s Day, without admitting any criminal or civil liability.

Lawyer Ms Haenni said the Cyane family ‘did not take Ms Moretti’s apology very well’.

The barrister said: ‘They were quite hurt because, in their opinion, this did not reflect his behavior on the evening.’

Ms Haenni added that ‘the image the Moretti family is trying to portray is at odds with some elements of the case’ and that ‘there is no closeness’ between them and Cyane.

Ms Haenni said the Panine family was now ‘filled with frustration and anger’ as well as a ‘feeling of powerlessness, injustice and uncertainty’ and would now fight ‘for those responsible to be convicted’.

Mr Moretti is currently in custody, while his wife has been released on bail with an electronic bracelet

Cyane was seen holding two champagne bottles adorned with sparklers on the shoulders of a colleague

Video cameras are said to have captured Ms. Moretti driving away from the scene of the fire as fast as she could, after quickly fleeing with the safe containing the overnight withdrawals under her arm.

Cyane’s parents had already claimed the emergency exit was locked to prevent people sneaking in and avoiding table fees of around £900 per person.

Mrs Panine said: ‘If the door had been open perhaps there would have been no death.’

Speaking about his daughter’s last minutes, Panine said: ‘She was unconscious but still alive. For forty minutes they tried to resuscitate him. ‘It didn’t do any good.’

Cyan was buried on Saturday in his hometown of Sète, on the south coast of France.

His family said that they are now trying to come to terms with their losses together and demand that those they believe are responsible be held accountable.

‘He was a ray of sunshine to everyone,’ Mr Panine said.

‘The sun will not rise again for us in 2026. There is a time for sadness, there is a time for anger. I think anger will quickly take over.’

A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial outside the bar ‘Le Constellation’ after a deadly fire and explosion during a New Year’s Eve party in the luxury Crans-Montana ski resort in southwestern Switzerland, January 5, 2026

People mourn at a makeshift memorial outside ‘Le Constellation’ bar after a deadly fire and explosion during a New Year’s Eve party at the luxury Crans-Montana ski resort in southwestern Switzerland, January 4, 2026

Crans-Montana firefighters who first responded to the fire at ‘Le Constellation’ bar and lounge show their emotions as they gather around flowers and candles to remember the victims in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, January 04, 2026

According to interview transcripts seen by Swiss news outlet Tages-Anzeiger, the Morettis described Cyane as a waiter who was hoisted towards the basement ceiling of Le Constellation while waving champagne sparklers.

He was wearing a helmet as part of the trick, which may have prevented him from seeing the sparks ignite the ceiling.

Investigators found that 34 of the 40 people who died in the fire perished in the pub’s small stairwell, whose width was reduced by a third by Mr. Moretti during renovations in 2015.

Swiss law enforcement officers found multiple bodies at the bottom of the stairs after the wooden steps and railings collapsed.

Jacques Moretti, questioned by prosecutors on Friday, did not mention the renovation of the stairwell. However, he admitted that the ‘service door on the ground floor’ was locked from the inside when the fire started.

He said that when he arrived at the scene, he forced the door open and found the victims behind, including Cyane, who had died of asphyxiation.

Mr. Moretti said he did not know why the door was locked and also denied any civil or criminal wrongdoing.

On Friday, Mr Moretti told the Vallais prosecutor’s office in nearby Sion that he learned that the bar’s ‘service door’ had only been ‘locked from the inside and with a latch’ after the fire.

Mr Moretti (pictured) said Cyane was the girlfriend of a close family friend who the Morettis “raised as if she were my own child”.

Referring to Cyane in a one-day interview filed by prosecutors on Friday, Mr. Moretti said she was the girlfriend of a close family friend whom the Morettis “raised as if they were my own child.”

Recalling how he found Cyane dying, Mr Moretti said: ‘I went out on the veranda [behind the bar]. All the windows were open.

‘There were a lot of people there. I tried to get in but it was impossible. “There was a lot of smoke.”

Pointing to the ‘service door’ instead of the exit, Mr. Moretti said that this door was ‘closed and locked with a latch from the inside, which is usually not the case.’

‘We forced it open, but it finally opened within a few seconds. When the door opened, several people were lying unconscious on the ground.

‘My stepdaughter Cyane was one of them. ‘We got them all out and into the rescue position.’

Mr Moretti said he and Cyane’s boyfriend ‘tried to resuscitate her in the street near the pub for over an hour until emergency services told us it was too late’.

Cyane died within an hour.

Swiss authorities consider both Morettis to be flight risks, but Ms. Moretti is allowed to stay at home to care for the couple’s two children.

He is required to wear an electronic tag and his passport is confiscated and he must report to the local police station every three days.

The investigation into the fire continues.