NAPLES -- An English tourist has died of a heart attack whilst climbing Mount Vesuvius on Sunday morning, according to the Carabinieri paramilitary police.  

  Mark John Irwin, 56, had been holidaying in the area with his family, coming from the United States, before he was taken unwell only a few metres from the summit after climbing the mountain. According to his partner, Irwin had recently undergone heart surgery. 

  The president of the Volcanological Leaders of the Vesuvius Volcano Garrison, Paolo Cappelli, and his team were first to arrive at the scene, using the park’s defibrillators for 40 minutes. The ambulance arrived shortly after, but paramedics were only able to report the tourist’s death.

  “He was right up at the summit when he collapsed. His wife told us that he had had an operation on his heart two or three months ago. We think he may have had a heart attack,” Cappelli was quoted as saying. 

  “It’s very sad. It is pretty rare for this to happen on Vesuvius. We have one death every one or two years, which is not much considering the fact that about 3,000 people climb to the top of the volcano each day,” he concluded.

  “We are assisting the family of a British man who died in Italy and are in contact with the local authorities,” A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office said. 

  The tourist’s death also coincides with temperatures soaring in the south of Italy during the recent heatwave. 

lw