Three family members have died after falling into a volcanic crater near Naples, Italy while they tried to save their son.
It’s believed the 11-year-old boy, Lorenzo, crossed a safety barrier and plunged into the Solfatara Crater, which measures at 1000 degrees Celsius.
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His mother and father, Massimiliano Carrer, 45, his wife Tiziana Zaramella, 42, rushed in and tried to pull him to safety, but the crater’s base collapsed and they all plunged 1.5 metres, officials say.
A seven-year-old boy managed to scramble to safety amid the chaos and cry for help, The Sun reports.
Emergency personnel arrived minutes later and descended to try save the family.
Devastatingly, it was too late and the family’s bodies were retrieved and placed in body bags.
It is unknown whether they died from the gas fumes or from burns inflicted by the extremely hot crater, and it will take a post mortem to determine exactly how they died.
Eye witnesses say that they saw a child cross a safety barrier that warned of the crater’s perils.
“I saw a child run crying, I did not think I was facing the worst tragedy of my life,” said eye witness Diego Vitagliano.
“I was at the Solfatara for work, along with other visitors we realised that something had happened and we approached the crater, I did not imagine what I would see.
“They pulled out two bodies, then pulled us away. I continue to think about that family and that poor baby crying and asking for help. “
Although the Solfatara crater is dormant – last erupting in 1198 – it emits jets of steam and sulphurous fumes.
