05-05-2025
American tourist impaled on Colosseum fence for 20 minutes
A tourist — reportedly an American living in Taiwan — was impaled on a fence last Friday at the Colosseum in Rome, where he dangled for 20 minutes, eventually passing out before his rescue.
It's not clear why the individual, identified as a 47-year-old male, scrambled onto the fence, although Italian news media have speculated that he was either attempting to secure a selfie with the famed landmark in the background or trying to get a better view.
According to Day Italian News, with some translation help from Google, at 5 p.m. Friday with about 20 people nearby, the tourist scrambled onto the fence and fell, ending up impaled by a metal tip. Those nearby called for help as the man screamed in pain.
Dozens of paramedics, a police patrol and a Guardia di Finanza crew arrived to find the man still stuck, impaled through his lower back and 'in a state of deep shock.' He was given sedatives and passed out during the rescue, which took about 20 minutes.
The report said he was stabilized and his bleeding controlled with a compression bandage so he could be taken in serious condition to the San Giovanni Hospital, which is located about 15 minutes away.
The wound in the man's lower back took more than 80 stitches to close, according to Italian media, but he is considered out of danger and officials are trying to determine why he was climbing on the fence.
It's far from the first time that tourists have been injured while visiting historic sites. And photography is often at the heart of the coming tragedy.
A study in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care reported on 259 documented cases of people dying while taking selfies between October 2011 and November 2017.
A slightly more recent study, looking at 2008 to 2021 and reported in the Journal of Travel Medicine listed 379 people dying in 292 incidents while taking selfies.
Add in uncounted cases and also those involving photos that aren't selfies and it's clear that care is vital.
Numerous tourists have fallen to their deaths at the Grand Canyon after getting too close to the edge in order to get photos, including selfies, despite safety railings and signs that say to keep back. In a 2019 incident reported by The Associated Press and other media, a tourist from Hong Kong fell 1,000 feet at Eagle Point while taking a photo too close to the edge.
In 2016, a tourist died after falling off a cliff while posing for a photo at Machu Picchu in Peru. The individual reportedly jumped up into the air for the photo. According to The Guardian, Oliver Paps of Germany fell into a ravine while posing in the restricted area.
In 2018, a married couple who were travel bloggers, Meenakshi Moorthy, 30, and her husband Vishnu Viswanath, 29, died after falling from Taft Point in Yosemite National Park while taking selfies. They were too close to the edge, according to a story by KTLA TV in Los Angeles. The story reported that 'she was a self-described 'adrenaline junkie,' and he took 'wow-worthy photos' of the couple posing at the edge of cliffs and jumping from planes that appeared on social media and a travel blog that attracted thousands of followers.'
In 2019, someone live-streaming a climb on Mount Fuji in Japan fell to his death. He reportedly was attempting a solo climb in winter and ignored safety guidelines, according to The Japan Times.
Several tourists have been injured or killed after tripping on the uneven stairs at the Taj Mahal in India while taking selfies. BBC reported on a death involving a Japanese tourist in 2015 when he tripped while taking a selfie at the Taj Mahal's Royal Gate and fell, hitting his head hard enough to knock him out. He died at the hospital.
The deadly risks of ill-considered photo seeking have been real for many many years. For instance, a 16-year-old girl who climbed up on a parapet to take a picture of the Trocadero garden in Paris fell to her death in 1986, according to the Los Angeles Times.
That was well before the selfie craze and social media.
