POMPEII—Another wall collapse in Pompeii prompted culture minister Dario Franceschini to summon an emergency meeting to discuss the state of the heritage site on Tuesday.

 Following two collapses reported yesterday, a 2m wall crumbled this morning in an unexcavated area closed to visitors. The wall was part of a tomb situated in an important necropolis of Porta Nocere. The latest collapses occurred outside visiting hours, not causing any casualties. The archaeological site has been recently hit by heavy rains, which resulted in land slides and extensive damage to the ruins. Persistent rainfall being the immediate cause, the precarious state of the iconic heritage site has raised questions about its maintenance and management.

 Both the necropolis of Porta Nocere and the Temple of Venus, where the previous collapses took place, are among the most important sites in the Pompeii complex, the state of their preservation, however, “has long been compromised”, stated architect Antonio Irlando of the “Osservatorio Patrimonio Culturale”, blaming what he refers to as “an unprecedented management void.”

 The newly appointed culture minister Dario Franceschini has summoned an emergency meeting with the officials responsible for the site to take place Tuseday morning at the Ministry of Culture, with the intention of evaluating the efficiency of routine maintenance procedures, demanding reports on the reasons for the recent collapses and on the progress of the large-scale restoration project launched last year with European Union funds.

 The Sovrintentenza Speciale di Pompei responsible for the administration of the site blocked all entrances to the necropolis, which will remain closed to visitors until necessary controls are carried out and local restoration works are completed.