U.S. tourist survives after falling into Mount Vesuvius reaching for phone

Dying is not worth the ‘gram.

A U.S. tourist came away with some scrapes and bruises, as well as his life, over the weekend after falling into Mount Vesuvius in Italy while trying to get his phone which he had dropped.

Officials said the 23-year-old Baltimore man was hiking with relatives on an unauthorized trail and was trying to take a selfie, according to local media. However, he slipped and fell into the crater.

“This morning a tourist for reasons still to be determined (maybe because he didn’t manage to buy the ticket?), together with his family they ventured on a forbidden path, arrived on the edge of the crater and fell into the mouth of Vesuvius. Only thanks to the intervention of the volcano guides that fell into the crater it was possible to recover the unconscious visitor that was reported, a thank you to these professional experts,” wrote Gennaro Lametta, a government tourism official, on Facebook.

An aerial view of the crater of the mount Vesuvius volcano, is seen near the Italian city of Naples on March 31, 2009. (MARIO LAPORTA/)

Lametta included a photo of the man’s scraped and bruised arms and back.

The man was identified as Phillip Caroll by NBC News. He was taken into police custody but it is unclear what charges he faces.

Officials praised the work of the volcano guides who acted quickly before Caroll fell further.

“Having spoken directly with the rescuers, I can safely say that last Saturday on Vesuvius they saved a human life,” Paolo Cappelli, president of the Presidio Permanente Vesuvio, told Vesuvio Live.

Mount Vesuvius is most famous for destroying the city of Pompeii in 79 AD and hasn’t erupted since 1944. Its highest point is about 4,200 feet and its crater is about 1,000 feet deep.