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🇮🇹 Italy /Disasters & Emergencies

Crans-Montana municipality knew of fire risk, email reveals; Chiara’s father demands the truth

From ANSA · () Italian

Translated from Italian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • An email shows that a former Crans-Montana municipal councillor warned about the flammability of soundproofing foam at the Constellation discobar.
  • The official is among 17 people under investigation over the New Year’s fire, which killed 41 people and injured 115.
  • Relatives of victims said the disclosure deepened concerns about possible negligence and called for a full investigation.

An email has raised fresh questions about what Crans-Montana authorities knew before the New Year’s fire that killed 41 people and injured 115. Rose-Marie Clavien, a former municipal councillor responsible for construction from 2017 to 2024, warned that the soundproofing foam at the Constellation could catch fire.

Clavien, now the 17th person under investigation in the case, declined to answer questions on the issue during questioning on Friday, August 28. The details were published by Switzerland’s Tages-Anzeiger and reported by Italy’s Il Messaggero.

If the municipality had been informed that the soundproofing foam could catch fire, then I believe it is essential to fully clarify what happened and, above all, understand why that danger was not addressed and prevented.

· Andrea CostanzoThe father of 16-year-old fire victim Chiara called for a full investigation.

Jessica Moretti, the discobar’s owner, also knew about the foam’s danger, according to a message she sent employees in December 2019. She warned them to take care when using sparkler candles because they could ignite the ceiling covering. The fire occurred six years later.

Chiara and the other victims cannot be brought back. But we families need to know the truth.

· Andrea CostanzoCostanzo explained why relatives are demanding clarity from the investigation.

Andrea Costanzo, whose 16-year-old daughter Chiara died in the blaze, said the disclosure left him speechless. “If the municipality had been informed that the soundproofing foam could catch fire, then I believe it is essential to fully clarify what happened and, above all, understand why that danger was not addressed and prevented,” he told ANSA.

Costanzo said the victims could not be brought back, but families needed to know the truth. He added that he did not want to determine responsibility himself, but believed any information that might have prevented the tragedy carried enormous weight. Valentino Giola, the father of survivor Giuseppe, said the report reinforced the prosecution’s negligence hypothesis and appeared to confirm earlier claims that inspections had not been carried out for five years.

This is yet another report that leaves me perplexed and reinforces the prosecution’s hypothesis: from the beginning, it seemed clear that there had been negligence.

· Valentino GiolaThe father of a survivor said the email strengthened concerns about negligence.
About this summary

Originally published by ANSA in Italian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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