Hero banker pulled teenagers out of Swiss club fire ‘with his bare hands’

A hero banker managed to pull 10 people from the Swiss nightclub fire ‘with his bare hands’ after his daughter rang him pleading for help.

Paolo Campolo raced from his home to Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve and was able to prise open a door.

Some 10 youngsters trapped inside were able to flee from the building through the door, while at least 40 people were killed and a further 119 injured.

The 55-year-old’s daughter had rang him crying, saying her boyfriend and his friends were trapped inside.

The main exit was crammed by people trying to flee, but Mr Campolo, a senior financial analyst, was able to find a door to the side and forced it open.

He told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero: ‘There were several bodies all around. Alive but burnt. Some conscious, others not.

‘They were begging for help in several languages. They were very young.’

He worked with another man to pull open the door, and could could see ‘hands and faces’ behind the screen.

As soon as it opened, a number of people immediately spilled out. Many of those inside were teenagers.

Mr Campolo said: ‘I didn’t think about the pain, the smoke, the danger. I pulled kids out with my bare hands. One after the other. They were alive but injured, many of them seriously.’

He said he will always remember ‘the lucid desperation of those who know they’re dying’.

The dad added: ‘Burned people looking at you and asking you not to leave them there. It’s something that never goes away.’

Mr Campolo is now recovering in hospital in Sion for smoke inhalation, while his daughter’s boyfriend is fighting for his life in a hospital in Basel.

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