Japanese tourist plunges to death outside Pantheon

 ROME – A Japanese tourist, 69, died late on Friday evening after plunging from a 7-metre-high wall by the Pantheon in Rome, police said.

 The tourist, named as Hibino Morimasa, had been on holiday with his daughter in Rome when he fell from the wall surrounding the Pantheon in central Rome. The wall has a 7-metre drop from the current day street level to the street level as it was in Ancient Rome and is often to referred to as the Pantheon’s moat.

 Morimasa had been sightseeing with his daughter when he reportedly felt unwell and fell from the wall just before 10 p.m. on Friday evening. Emergency services arrived at the scene shortly after his daughter raised the alarm.

 To reach the Japanese man, the emergency services had to open a gate on Via della Palombella, where he was pronounced dead on scene.

 Investigations into his death are ongoing.

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