Tourist is hit on the head by a figure – and dies

A holiday in Naples ended fatally for a 30-year-old woman. A child appears to have caused the accident. The shock is enormous.

Naples – A tourist is dead: A terrible holiday tragedy has occurred in Naples. 30-year-old holidaymaker Chiara Jaconis from Padua died after days of severe head injuries. On Sunday afternoon (September 15, 2024), she was hit in the head by a figure that fell on her from the window of a third-floor apartment in the French quarter of the port city.

Italy disaster: Father of the dead wants surveillance video of Naples disaster removed from the Internet

There is a video from a surveillance camera showing Jaconis and her boyfriend walking with their suitcases along the otherwise deserted street. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the statue crashes onto Jaconis' head while her boyfriend stands next to her and has to watch everything. Her father appealed for the video to be removed from the Internet.

The police and public prosecutor are investigating the case, as reported by the Italian news agency Ansa and the broadcaster Rai. It is still unclear how the figure, which represents an old pagan deity, fell. It may have been accidentally thrown out of the window of the apartment where two children were staying. Italian Newspaper reported that the parents of the child who apparently threw the statue are being investigated for manslaughter. A babysitter was apparently supposed to supervise the children.

Holiday tragedy in Italy: Two-kilogram statue falls on tourist's head in Naples

The figure weighed two kilos and fell more than ten metres. It first hit a balcony and splintered there. One of the pieces then hit the woman on the head. Recently, a road in Naples swallowed two cars during a landslide.

The holidaymaker was first cared for in the Vecchio Pellegrini hospital and then in the Ospedale del Mare. The woman eventually died in the latter. Her parents decided against an autopsy. Her father had travelled from Padua and explained that, despite the prejudices he had against Naples, he wanted to thank the doctors at the Mare hospital who had tried everything.

Shock after tourist accident in Naples: “A disaster that affects us all”

Many residents of the city expressed their condolences by laying flowers at the scene of the accident. “We hoped until the end that Chiara would be able to return to her usual life and to her family,” said Venetian governor Luca Zaia. Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi spoke of “great pain, a misfortune that affects us all deeply.” Padua Mayor Sergio Giordani called the death “absurd and tragic.” According to 361 Magazine A torchlight procession took place in Naples in memory of the young woman.

Jaconis lived in Paris and worked in the fashion industry there. Before flying back to Padua, they wanted to take a final sightseeing tour of one of the city's most characteristic districts, between Via Sant'Anna di Palazzo and Via Santa Teresella degli Spagnoli. She had studied economics in Padua and then made a name for herself in the fashion industry in London, Turin and Paris. The trip to Naples was a gift from her friends for her 30th birthday. Another drama recently occurred in Naples when a balcony collapsed. (cgsc)