- Title: VATICAN: MENTALLY DISTURBED MAN REMOVED FROM THE DOME OF ST. PETERS BASILICA.
- Date: 26th March 2005
- Summary: (EU) VATICAN (MARCH 26, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS: OF ST PETERS BASILICA. 0.05 2. LV: MAN ON DOME OF ST PETERS BASILICA. 0.11 3. WS: OF ST PETERS BASILICA. 0.17 4. MLV: MAN ON DOME OF ST PETERS BASILICA. 0.29 5. VARIOUS: OF DOME. (2 SHOTS) 0.56 6. WS: POLICE ON GROUND LEVEL. 1.09 7. TILT DOWN: TO MAN ON DOME. 1.22 8. SCU: COUPLE WATCHES MAN. 1.26 9. MLV: OF MAN ON DOME. 1.38 10. WS: POLICE ON STREET. 1.43 11. VARIOUS: MAN TAKEN OFF DOME BY MEMBERS OF VATICAN FIRE BRIGADES. (2 SHOTS) 2.45 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 10th April 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VATICAN
- Reuters ID: LVA9CR5EVKDS3NAGD9JTDJ36Y4FW
- Story Text: Man removed from dome of St Peters Basilica
The Italian man had stayed on the top of the dome
on Saturday (March 26) and tied himself with a rope to the
railing for more than two hours.
The incident had threatened to affect the start of an
Easter Eve mass that was due to begin in the Basilica on
Saturday night.
The Vatican fire brigades had first discreetly linked
themselves with rope to the railing near the top of the 120
metre (400-foot) dome.
When the 46-year-old man appeared to be distracted, a
member of the fire brigade jumped over the railing in a
flash and grabbed him. Other member of the brigades joined
their comrade and together they brought him to safety
inside the railing.
The man had climbed onto the sloping roof of the dome
from a popular tourists perch at the top of St Peters,
which is reached from an inside stairway.
"The man is Italian. He has had a history of mental
problems. We are having difficulty convincing him to come
over," one of the officials negotiating with the man told
Reuters by cell phone from the top of the dome before the
incident ended..
Italian media reported that he once climbed to the top
of Italy's famous leaning tower in Pisa and threatened to
jump off.
Before the incident ended, the man had more than once
refused to grab at a safety sling thrown to him.
The ordeal ended about three hours before the start of
an Easter Eve mass due to be said by Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger, who is representing the ailing Pope.
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