Tourists on gondola fall into Venice waters after ignoring warning to stay still
Prior to the capsize of the boat, the tourists had ignored instructions to stay still and were moving around to take photos.
PHOTO: TikTok/ienaridens69
PUBLISHED ONDecember 06, 2023 4:41 AMByLim KeweiSeveral Asian tourists in Venice found themselves in troubled waters after their gondola overturned and capsized along the Rio de la Verona River on Sunday (Dec 3) afternoon.
As the boat neared a low-height bridge, the gondolier had informed passengers to stay seated to maintain a low centre of gravity while passing through, reported 8world.
Despite the gondolier's shouts for them to obey his instructions, however, the tourists paid no heed to his warnings and continued moving about in the vessel to take photographs, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
The unbalanced boat then turned turtle, throwing everyone on board into the water.
Videos of the incident circulating online showed five tourists clinging to the overturned gondola and another vessel as the gondolier worked to rescue the frightened passengers.
According to ANSA, the group comprised six tourists, with the gondolier managing to bring one of them to shore before diving back in to rescue the others.
[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@ienaridens69/video/7308401469579939104[/embed]
One panicked woman can be heard screaming in fear and attempting to climb onto the nearby gondola, as other Chinese-speaking passengers tried to calm her down.
The tourists were eventually rescued and no injuries were reported, ANSA stated.