A hero banker saved ten young lives from the deadly fire at a Swiss ski resort by forcing open an emergency exit after receiving a desperate call from his teenage daughter, who was trapped inside and begging him for help. Paolo Campolo, 55, rushed from his home in Crans-Montana to the Le Constellation bar after learning people were trapped inside.
As flames and thick smoke rapidly engulfed the building, he forced open a side door, giving terrified revelers a crucial escape route and allowing them to flee for their lives. The fire tore through the basement of the crowded nightclub during New Year’s Eve celebrations, turning a night into tragedy.
Heroic Act
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At least 40 people were killed, and 119 others were injured — 80 of them critically — in one of the deadliest club fires the region has seen. Campolo, a Swiss-Italian financial analyst, rushed to the club after receiving a frantic call from his daughter. She told him her boyfriend and several friends were trapped inside, while she herself was still outside waiting to get in.
When he arrived, the main entrance was jammed with people desperately trying to escape. Spotting a side door, Campolo forced it open, creating a vital way out as panic and smoke filled the area.
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Video shared online appears to capture the dramatic moment: a man prying open a door to the right of the main entrance, followed by a visibly shaken young woman rushing out. It remains unclear whether the man in the footage is Campolo.
Now recovering in the hospital after suffering smoke inhalation, the father spoke about the terrifying moments behind that door, recalling the chaos and fear he encountered as the fire raged inside.
Campolo 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.”
Le Constellation was especially popular with younger crowds, and many of those caught in the disaster were teenagers.
Helped Avoid Bigger Tragedy
By the time Campolo ran the short 50 yards from his home to the club, fire crews and emergency responders were already on the scene. The flames had begun to subside, but the danger was far from over. Thick, choking smoke had filled the building, trapping dozens of people inside, while panic built at the single usable exit.
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Working alongside another man, Campolo managed to wrench open a second door. Behind it, he could see desperate “hands and faces” pressing forward. As the door gave way, several people poured out at once, finally escaping the smoke-filled club.
“I didn’t think about the pain, the smoke, the danger,” Campolo said, adding, “I pulled kids out with my bare hands. One after the other. They were alive but injured, many of them seriously.”
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When asked what he most remembered from the traumatic night, Campolo said: “The looks. The lucid desperation of those who know they’re dying. Burned people looking at you and asking you not to leave them there. It’s something that never goes away.”
Campolo is now recovering in a hospital in Sion, Switzerland, after suffering smoke inhalation. His daughter escaped the fire unharmed, but her boyfriend remains in critical condition, fighting for his life in a hospital in Basel.
Authorities say the injured include 71 Swiss nationals, along with 14 people from France and 11 from Italy. Others hurt in the blaze come from Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal and Poland, according to Valais regional police commander Frédéric Gisler. The nationalities of 14 victims had not yet been confirmed.
