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A Maryland man has avoided serious injury after falling into a crater on Mount Vesuvius while attempting to reach for his falling cell phone, according to multiple reports.
Naples officials said the 23-year-old Baltimore man was injured after entering an unauthorized trail with family members on Saturday, according toCNN,NBC NewsandThe Guardian.
Paolo Cappelli, president of the Presidio Permanente Vesuvio, a base at the top of Vesuvius, told NBC News that the man “tried to recover” the device, but wound up slipping and sliding “a few meters into the crater.”
Despite the harrowing ordeal, Carroll only sustained cuts and bruises to his arms and back, the outlets reported.
“He was very lucky,” Cappelli told NBC News. “If he kept going, he would have plunged 300 meters into the crater.”
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Carroll and his family made their way up the volcano from the town of Ottaviano, NBC News reported. The trio reached the summit using a trail that was “closed to tourists,” Cappelli said.
Officials said the off-limits path is clearly marked with warning signs, according to CNN and NBC News.
Carroll fell “several meters” after losing his balance upon summitting, The Guardian reported.
“He managed to stop his fall,” Cappelli told NBC News, “but at that point he was stuck.”
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Vesuvio guides witnessed the incident through binoculars while on the opposite side of the rim, per the report. The guides reportedly used a rope to pull him up and out of the hole.
Carabinieri police have since taken Carroll into custody, Cappelli said, per NBC News.
Carroll and his two family members face charges for invading public land, The Guardian reported.
At its highest peak, Mount Vesuvius is 1,277 meters (4,190 feet) tall, according tothe Vesuvius National Park website.
The crater is 450 meters (1,476 feet) in diameter and 300 meters (984 feet) in depth, per the national park.
Mount Vesuvius is best known for its violent eruption in A.D. 79., which devastated the Roman city of Pompeii and buried it in ash.
The volcano has not erupted since 1944, but is still considered active.
source: people.com
