What a tragedy.

[steveindenmark]

Personally, I am more shocked by this night club fire in Switzerland, I mean, oh my! What were they thinking??

All I can say is that the owners and some of the staff will be up for the high - jump and no mistake! 🙄

The night club owner has owned it since 2015. He totally refurbished the place. It has been inspected 3 times since he did the work. Apparently, without incident. What was shocking was the number of people insde the building, filming the fire take hold.

 

[Drago]

Im not sure the Swiss one is an issue of building safety, as it seems likely the building was compliant with the applicable construction codes, but more a case of prattish behaviour with sparklers.

The Yorkshire one appears to not be swimmers, but a teenage girl was swept out to sea and two fellers bravely, but foolhardily, went in to try and rescue her

 

[Ming the Merciless]

they may not have had the skillset to know they were out of their depth, I think things like that happen at Cairngorm (and other mountain ranges in the UK) because people do think its just a bit of hillwalking, and they dont really think of it as climbing a mountain range. so what may appear obvious to others might not have to them.

the humberside one, there arent really enough details being released yet, but I think it will turn out to be just one of those tragic accidents that happen on our coastline from time to time.

and I dont have an issue with people doing Christmas/New Year dip things, as long as the risks are known, and they understand them.

They set off at 6pm to climb the second highest mountain the UK. They had jogging bottoms and trainers. No waterproofs. No crampons. No ice axes. The mountain is plastered with snow and ice. The ground steep on the route they took. Even the least experienced person should know it was a stupid idea.

 

[sevenfourate]

We had a very large (Charity ?) Xmas day swim in Lowestoft. 500+ people perhaps; going in I shouldn’t wonder on its 46th time being held. And from pics I’ve seen I suspect there was a large showing of volunteers, first aiders, Ambulances (?), hot drink providers, helpers etc

None of that changes the fact with the open terrain, the wind-chill, the freezing temp of the sea; not to forget the fact it was rough enough out there to get other swims cancelled - why so many who are completely out of their depth (Pardon the apt pun) think they can pop into the sea once a Year for a good cause with no ill effects.

It’s amazing in this day and age it’s allowed quite frankly. The same Town who’ sea-side park run gets cancelled with the first hint of a frost…..

None of that detracts from the Deaths of some folk across the Country tackling something so innocent / worthy on paper.

 

[Sharky]

Judging by their reported ages I think that the word Leader appear after the word Scouts..
The training course leaders must have had a lot of explaining to do.

There three others that survived the avalanche, including the 47 yr old mountain guide, who survived for 15 hrs, before he was dug out.

 

[Dave7]

Im not sure the Swiss one is an issue of building safety, as it seems likely the building was compliant with the applicable construction codes, but more a case of prattish behaviour with sparklers.

I might be guilty of speculation here but, since that terrible incident years ago (was it the I.O.M.) I thought/assumed that ceilings in these places had to be fire retardant.
I know virtually nothing of such matters but the flames seemed to spread very quickly after getting a hold if they really were fire retardent.
Am I expecting too much there ?

 

[Drago]

I dont know what the regs in Switzerland are, but you'd like to think some kind of fire retardent/resistant materials were a given. You might find they were fire retardant, but had then been painted with a flammable paint or some such. That happens over here.

Nevertheless, it is being reported that the premises passed several recent inspections and met all regulations as regards the age and type of premises.

Once the kerfuffle has died down we could well see a change in either building regs, or a change in the law to prevent fireworks being waved around indoors in bars, if indeed it was legal to do so in the first place.

Just have to wait and see I guess.

And as for the prats standing about filming it... id have been heading for the door so fast youdchave heard the sonic boom.

 

[Stevo 666]

I saw the events of the Christmas Day swim on the south coast and was shocked that anyone would go into seas like that in Winter. I grew up 200m from the North sea.

I also grew up a few hundred yards from the North Sea (Redcar) and why anyone would want to go in it at this time of year - even if it was like a millpond - is beyond me.

 

[Binky]

I surf all year around and in winter it's in a 6mm wetsuit with boots and gloves. Anyone going into heavy surf condiitons in just a swimming costume is frankly asking for trouble. Now, it's not been said whether the latest incident were swimmers or just people caught unawares etc whilst on shoreline but whilst a terrible tragedy, people at some stage need to take responsibility for themselves and others.

 

[Beebo]

The Yorkshire one appears to not be swimmers, but a teenage girl was swept out to sea and two fellers bravely, but foolhardily, went in to try and rescue her

Awful if true.
I’m note sure what I would do in that situation? Would I go into freezing water for a stranger?
There was a man near me who died trying to rescue his dog from a frozen lake. And the worst part is the dog survived anyway!

 

[Drago]

I hear you Beebo. The logical part of me says dont be a damn fool, but we're genetically programmed to protect the young and the drive to do something, no matter how dangerous or futile, is very strong indeed.

At least the poor bloke will be able to hold his head high in Valhalla when he arrives.

 

[sungod]

it seems many people are out of touch with reality and the consequences of their decisions, whether it's wilful ignorance (i say 'wilful' as it's remarkably easy to get the required info these days), or arrogance, or the assumption that it won't happen to them, or that someone else will bail them out, i have no idea

over the decades i've spent time in desert, mountains, bush, jungle, snowfields, was trained and prepared for it, had some iffy moments but was equipped and knew what to do

imo the sea can't be prepared for, the forces involved are way beyond anything a human can resist, the only sensible decision is stay away

i was in lanzarote a few weeks ago, there were ample warnings/alerts issued across the islands, even my uk mobile received the alerts, yet people still ignored them

a few died when the warnings were 'only' for 4m waves and most of these were in risky areas that had red flags flying, others were injured, some swept away presumed dead

then the warnings were for 7m waves, no surprise, some people still thought they knew better and ended up dead

evolution in action

 

[slow scot]

They set off at 6pm to climb the second highest mountain the UK. They had jogging bottoms and trainers. No waterproofs. No crampons. No ice axes. The mountain is plastered with snow and ice. The ground steep on the route they took. Even the least experienced person should know it was a stupid idea.

It’s the 6pm bit that gets me. I’m a fairly experienced winter mountaineer, and even with full equipment I’d not head up that route in the pitch darkness unless there was some kind of emergency. What was going through their minds?

 

[classic33]

Its East Yorkshire, not Humberside 🙂

It's the East Riding of Yorkshire.

 

[fossyant]

Diving into freezing water definitely isn't a sensible thing to do!

There are thousands of people who go into the sea in the winter every day. It's upto the individuals to know what they are doing, and it's not recommended if it's very rough - you also need to know what the tides are doing. My wife is in the sea or a reservoir a few times a week. They only go in the sea on incoming tides - one of her group of friends work out the best times.

The same could be said for riding a bike TBH - it's dangerous out there with cars !