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American Tourist Falls Into Volcano!

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A trespassing American tourist had to be rescued by Italian police after the reckless sightseer fell into Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano, while taking selfies.

The 23-year-old man had climbed up the active volcano with his family without purchasing a ticket. They avoided the visitor’s gateway and made their way around the edge of the rocky face via a forbidden route, which was clearly signed as being highly dangerous and out-of-bounds.

The family climbed to the summit of Vesuvius which towers 1000 feet above the Italian city of Naples before stopping to take selfies.

As he leaned over the edge of the crater to take a selfie, his cell phone slipped from his hand and fell into the volcano’s entrance. He tried to retrieve the phone, but instead lost his footing and fell into the volcano himself.

Luckily, he didn’t fall all the way into the 1000 foot hole, and instead he landed several meters down on some rocks.

Official volcano guides were soon on the scene to help the injured selfie-taker who was stuck inside the crater. Using abseiling equipment and a harness, they were able to lift the very fortunate man out to safety.

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He received treatment by the local Vesuvius guides for minor injuries including cuts and bruises on his arms, legs and back but refused to go to hospital for any further assessment.

Although the man was lucky to escape with his life, he and his family did not escape the law after their reckless attempt to avoid paying for a ticket and professional guide. The cops turned up to the scene and charged the man and his three family members for invasion of public land.

Mount Vesuvius is one of the world’s most dangerous volcanos and is the only active example in mainland Europe. It is situated in a populated area. Around 3 million people live near enough to Vesuvius to feel the effects of an eruption today, with around 600,000 living in the “danger zone” of the imposing mountain.

It was the volcano which famously erupted in ancient Roman times, destroying the city of Pompeii in AD79, preserving the city’s occupants to this day in a layer of ash.

The blast was so fierce, the people of Pompeii were instantly frozen where they stood and incinerated by a torrent of burning ash from the erupting mountain. Over 1,500 human remains have been found near the sites of Pompeii and neighboring Herculaneum, but the total death toll is thought to be around 16,000. Some of the bodies are on display for the public to see.

Vesuvious had another major eruption in 1631, burying many local villages in a lava flow and killing at least 3000.

Its most recent eruption was in 80 years ago in 1944 which resulted in the crater at the top of the volcano today.

According to experts, another eruption could be imminent, and the Italian government is offering locals a $40,000 incentive to move away from the danger zone:

“An eruption of a similar size (to the Pompeii eruption) in the near future would surely be much, much worse,” notes educational YouTube channel, Underworld.