JACQUES MORETTI, CO-OWNER of the Swiss bar which went up in flames during New Year celebrations, is being held in custody after being interviewed by prosecutors today.

Moretti and his wife Jessica, who co-own Le Constellation bar in the ski-resort of Crans-Montana, were interviewed by prosecutors in the Switzerland’s southwestern Wallis canton.

The country today held national day of mourning for the 40 people killed in last week’s disaster. The average age of those killed was 19.

Most of those impacted by the inferno at Le Constellation were Swiss, but a total of 19 nationalities were among the fatalities and the wounded.

Half of those killed in the blaze were under 18, including some as young as 14.

Of those injured, 83 remain in hospital, with the most severely burned airlifted to specialist centres across Switzerland and abroad.

Prosecutors believe the blaze started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling in the bar’s basement section.

Experts have suggested that what appeared to be highly flammable foam may have caused a so-called flashover — a near-simultaneous ignition of everything in an enclosed space, trapping many of the young patrons.

Video footage which has emerged from the tragedy shows young people desperately trying to flee the scene, some breaking windows to try to force their way out.

Earlier this week, municipal authorities acknowledged that no fire safety inspections had been conducted at Le Constellation since 2019, prompting outrage.