A young Italian woman who endured horrific burns to her hands and face during the catastrophic Swiss bar inferno on New Year's Eve now confronts years of intensive medical treatment. However, she has revealed that it is her psychological wellbeing that will require an even more prolonged period to properly recover.
Trapped in the Blaze
Eleonora Palmieri, aged 29, had only just arrived at Le Constellation nightclub in the Alpine resort of Crans-Montana with her boyfriend when chaos erupted. As partygoers surged past her in a desperate bid to escape the rapidly spreading flames, she was pushed back into the very room where the fire was raging most intensely.
Her boyfriend was carried by the heaving crowd towards an exit, but Eleonora suddenly found herself trapped inside. Speaking to The Times, she recalled how the room became intensely dark and thick with acrid smoke, making it almost impossible to breathe.
'Then came the light — a tongue of fire that raced up the stairs towards me frighteningly fast, a moment of pure terror in which all my senses were overwhelmed by the heat,' she described.
Instinctive Protection Leaves Lasting Marks
Acting purely on instinct, Eleonora raised her hands and arms to shield her face. This reflexive action left her with deep, severe burns around her left eye, cheek, and lips, as well as across her nose and both hands. Additional burns affected other areas of her body.
The devastating inferno on January 1st claimed forty lives and left 116 people wounded, many with life-altering injuries. Some survivors were so badly burned that their own families could only identify them through distinctive features like their fingernails.
Palmieri was among twelve critically injured individuals airlifted to Milan's specialist Niguarda hospital following the disaster. She was finally discharged from medical care on Thursday, beginning the next phase of her long recovery journey.
Medical Knowledge Proves Crucial
The aspiring veterinarian, whose career ambitions now hang in the balance due to her injuries, was able to limit further damage to her body through her medical training. In the crucial minutes after emerging from the nightclub, she instructed friends to carefully cut off her tights to prevent the synthetic material from melting and adhering to her skin—a move that likely spared her from additional, more severe injuries.
Her thoughts now remain with the victims and their grieving families, as well as fellow survivors she describes as 'warriors' facing similarly challenging paths to recovery.
'The burns will mark your skin but it's the soul that needs more time to heal,' she reflected. 'We must not let that night define the rest of our lives.'
Investigation Reveals Multiple Failures
Palmieri shared her harrowing experience as new developments emerged in the ongoing investigation. According to reports, footage from 250 municipal surveillance cameras in the area surrounding the bar was 'mistakenly erased.' The Crans-Montana municipal police commissioner confirmed that recordings from December 31st up to midnight, and from January 1st after 6am, had been deleted.
While footage from around the time the fire broke out at 1:30am has been preserved, investigators had specifically sought access to recordings from before and after the incident to build a complete timeline of events.
Compromised Safety Measures
The latest revelation follows newly-released CCTV footage from the nightclub that shows alarming safety lapses. The footage reveals a chair deliberately wedged against an emergency exit and employees using pool cues to prop up deteriorating insulation foam in the weeks preceding the tragedy.
The footage features bar owners Jacques Moretti, 49, and his wife Jessica Moretti, 40, who have reportedly blamed their young staff for both causing the fire and blocking a crucial escape route. Swiss prosecutors have charged the couple with negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm, and negligent arson.
In one particularly concerning clip, an employee is seen pushing drooping insulation panels on the ceiling back into place using pool cues and paper towels approximately two weeks before the fire. Employee Gaëtan Thomas-Gilbert recorded this makeshift repair, sending the video to Jacques Moretti, who responded: 'Yeah, that looks OK. Take the others off, please.'
Contested Accounts of Responsibility
During extensive interrogations totaling around twenty hours, the Morettis' defence strategy reportedly involved shifting blame onto waitress Cyane Panine, 24, who perished in the blaze. They claimed she initiated a promotional stunt involving champagne bottles fitted with lit sparklers while wearing a promotional crash helmet that obstructed her vision.
Jacques Moretti told investigators this was 'Cyane's show,' adding: 'I didn't forbid her from doing that. I didn't make her pay attention to safety instructions. We didn't see the danger.'
Jessica Moretti similarly stated: 'Cyane liked to deliver these bottles – she did it of her own accord. If I had thought there was the slightest risk, I would have forbidden it.'
Families and Witnesses Dispute Claims
Cyane Panine's family, along with multiple survivors of the blaze, have vehemently denied the Morettis' version of events. They maintain it was Jessica Moretti who sent Cyane out with the bottles and actively encouraged the stunt, providing the Dom Perignon helmet used during the performance.
Regarding general fire safety preparedness, Jacques Moretti admitted: 'There was no training, but employees were told what steps to take in case of fire when they were shown around the premises.' He outlined these as evacuating customers, raising the alarm, and calling the fire department, adding that staff should use fire extinguishers 'if they had time.'
When confronted with testimony from an employee referred to as 'L,' who stated he had no knowledge of the fire extinguishers' locations, Jacques Moretti responded: 'Maybe I forgot to give this information to L, but it was going to be passed on at some point.'
Locked Exit and Flammable Materials
Both owners also blamed an unidentified staff member for locking an escape door in the basement on the night of the fire. Jessica Moretti insisted: 'The door was always open. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wonder why that door was closed that night.'
Jacques Moretti claimed that after the tragedy, they learned an employee delivering ice cubes had 'without understanding why, closed the latch at the top of the door.' He said he later sent this employee a text message stating: 'You shouldn't run away, you should stay here and take responsibility.'
Contacted by Le Parisien, the staff member in question strongly denied any wrongdoing, asserting: 'I didn't close a door that was already locked.'
Concerning the highly flammable foam installed during 2015 renovations—which rapidly accelerated the fire's spread—Jacques Moretti stated: 'The fire chief and the fire captain approved it.' This claim is now under intense scrutiny as investigators piece together the sequence of failures that turned a New Year's celebration into a deadly catastrophe.
