Noa was only 14 years old. He died in the fire at Le Constellation on New Year’s Eve. His father Xavier Thevenot now tells the story RTShe finds it “unfortunate” that no one is taking responsibility for the disaster. “In the canton of Valais they all cover each other. Nobody is responsible,” he says. “If the officers had done their job and checked the bar, our children would still be alive today.” Thevenot describes the fact that mayor Nicolas Féraud is still in office as “absurd”.
His son, the youngest victim of Crans-Montana, once wanted to become a professional footballer. Noa wanted to celebrate the beginning of the new year with former classmates at Le Constellation on New Year’s Eve. “I hesitated before agreeing because I had never allowed him to do anything like that before,” said Thevenot. However, he had no concerns. “I told him it was fine, but that he had to call me if anything happened.”
“I’m just surviving”
His son actually called at 1:17 a.m., a few minutes before the fire broke out. “He wrote to me saying that he was with all his friends, that everything was going great, and asked if he could stay a little longer because it was his last evening.” The family wanted to go back the next day.
About half an hour later, Paul (18), his older son, raised the alarm: “Dad, Dad, we have to go down to the Constellation, there’s a problem there.” The street scene that night is characterized by ambulances, police officers, black smoke and covered people.
It wasn’t until three days after the tragedy that the family found out that Noa had died. «I’m just surviving. Life is no longer the same. The house is empty. Losing a child is terrible.” He added: “I will fight until my death to ensure that the truth about this tragedy in Crans-Montana comes to light.” He owes it to his son. (jar)
