A U.S. citizen was impaled on a fence at the Colosseum in Rome on Friday while trying to take a photo of the historic landmark.
According to multiple Italian news outlets, including Informazione.it and Il Messagero, the 47-year-old American, who currently resides in Taiwan, slipped while climbing a spiked fence for a better photo op, and remained stuck and unable to free himself for around 20 minutes.
He was reportedly screaming in pain, and required a sedative from medics on the scene before he was able to be removed. He lost a lot of blood and was hospitalized and underwent surgery at San Giovanni hospital in Rome.
Italian officials said he was questioned by law enforcement on Sunday but did not immediately provide further details about how the incident occurred or what punishment he may yet receive.
In 2023, a British tourist carved his name and that of his significant other into the Colosseum walls and faced a criminal penalty of up to five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com