Irish tourist’s body recovered from river in Switzerland

The Irish tourist's body was discovered the day after Jonathan Flannery launched a GoFundMe to help bring his twin brother Justin Flannery home after he went missing in Switzerland on Friday, May 12.

Jonathan wrote on the GoFundMe page that it was thought his twin brother had "been swept away in the river in Lauterbrunnen."

Jonathan said that several family members had traveled to Switzerland to assist in the search efforts and circulate flyers with Justin's picture.

Bern Canton Police said in a statement today, May 16, that they had recovered the body of a 26-year-old Irish tourist, though they did not publish the victim's name.

Police said on Tuesday that they were investigating the cause of the Irish tourist's death.

The Swiss police force said that extensive search measures were immediately initiated after it received a report that a man was missing in Lauterbrunnen on Saturday at around 4:45 pm.

Mountain specialists and other employees of the Bern canton police were deployed, police said, and a search dog was also brought in.

Maritime police were also called out, the police said in their statement, due to indications that the missing Irish man could have been in the Lütschine, a 14-mile river in the Bernese Oberland region.

Third parties also took part in the search on the following days, police noted.

On Monday evening, May 15, third parties were able to locate the missing person in the Weisse Lütschine, at the level of the Isenfluh junction, near Zweilütschinen (Gündlischwand municipality), police confirmed.

The maritime police rescued the man from the water and were only able to determine his death. The Care Team of the Canton of Berne was deployed to look after the relatives.

Investigations to clarify the events were started under the direction of the regional public prosecutor Oberland, police said on Tuesday.

The man's identity has not been published. According to RTÉ, Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs here said it is aware of the case and is providing consular assistance.