Crans-Montana fire victim files French compensation claim

Sébastien Fanti, solicitor. Keystone-SDA

A young French woman who was seriously injured in the New Year's fire at a Swiss bar has filed a claim with the Crime Victims Compensation Commission (CIVI) of the Paris Judicial Court.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The 26-year-old woman suffered serious burns and psychological trauma in the fire that killed 41 people and injured more than 100 in the Swiss town of Crans-Montana. “She suffered second and third degree burns affecting 58.5% of her body surface. In particular, she has lost the use of his hands,” stated her lawyer Sébastien Fanti.

+ ‘For us, 2026 doesn’t exist’: parent of Swiss bar fire victim

“Turning to CIVI reflects our commitment to use all available legal means – both Swiss and French – so that our client obtains, as quickly as possible, the means to rebuild her life,” he added.

“No compensation can erase what she has experienced. But the law must, at the very least, allow her to look to the future with a little more serenity,” he adds.

The requested reimbursement was calculated “in light of the exceptional severity of the physical injuries, the aesthetic, functional and psychological damage, and the inability to carry out any professional activity.” However, Fanti does not specify the amount claimed.

The lawyer pointed out that this action follows a criminal complaint of of culpable fire, grievous bodily harm and violation of building regulations filed last April 1 at the Valais public prosecutor’s office.

The Valais Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to Keystone-ATS that it received the complaint at the beginning of last month.

The complaint is directed against the managers of the premises that went up in flames, various employees, those responsible for monitoring fire regulations and, more generally, against anyone the investigation identifies as the author, co-author, instigator or accomplice.

Fanti said that those who held and still hold positions at a higher administrative or political level will also be held accountable.

Adapted from Italian by AI/mga

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at [e-mail]