Family Says Bar Worker Who Held Sparkler Lacked Safety Training

A young woman seen in video holding a champagne bottle with a pyrotechnic attached just before a Swiss nightclub went up in flames had no safety training and did not know the ceiling was a fire risk, her family says. Lawyer Sophie Haenni, speaking for the relatives of 24-year-old employee Cyane Panine, told the BBC that the French woman "simply followed the instructions given" at Le Constellation bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana on New Year's Eve. Panine, widely identified as the staff member wearing a helmet and carrying bottles with lit sparklers when the ceiling ignited, "wasn't supposed to be serving tables" but had been called downstairs to cope with a rush on bottle service, the lawyer said.

Panine, who died in the fire, was never warned about the materials overhead, according to the family's statement. She was seen sitting on the shoulders of a DJ while wearing a promotional helmet from Dom Perignon, the Times of London reports. Her family says she was told to wear the helmet, which may have prevented her from seeing that the sparklers were so close to the ceiling. The fire killed 40 people and injured 116, and the bar's French owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are under investigation on suspicion of manslaughter, bodily harm, and arson through negligence

Initial findings indicate that sparklers set fire to soundproof foam on the ceiling; authorities have admitted the venue had gone five years without safety inspections. Haenni said that if building standards and required checks had been met, the scale of the disaster "could have been avoided," calling Panine "undoubtedly a victim." The lawyer says she "felt used," was unhappy with her working conditions, and was troubled by what she saw as a lack of empathy from her employers.

A Swiss court has ordered travel restrictions on Jessica Moretti instead of placing her in pretrial detention; she surrendered her passport and must report to police daily after prosecutors cited a flight risk. She has previously described the blaze as an "unthinkable tragedy." Her husband, Jacques, is being held in custody for an initial 90 days. In the aftermath of the fire, the Swiss canton of Valais banned pyrotechnics in indoor venues.