VENICE – A gondola sank Sunday amid choppy waters in La Serenissima, causing alarm amongst those who saw the incident. But the gondolier, who was alone on the traditional Venetian craft at the time, was rescued by a passing boat, reported La Repubblica.

 The gondola, which belongs to Remiera Francescana, had already capsized and was submerged by the time its driver was rescued from the water between Bacini and the Island of Vignole. 

 Fortunately a private boat passing nearby, part of Venice’s famous pageant, the annual Regata Storica, saw what was happening and quickly came to the rescue.

  “The wavy water was completely out of control,” said one of the rescuers. “At eleven o’clock, a few Sundays after the death of the 12-year-old girl in the lagoon, it is the usual Wild West.”

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