Tour Guide Dies Inside Rome's Colosseum

A tour guide leading a group on an exploration of Rome's Colosseum, a pit with no shade or wind, collapsed and died Tuesday amid sweltering heat. Giovanna Maria Giammarino, 56, became unresponsive around 6pm, per the Guardian. She could not be revived and died at the scene. The suspected cause of death is heat stroke or a heart attack, union sources tell ANSA. The death—which officials honored by turning off the Colosseum's lights on Wednesday evening—comes just weeks after the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations warned that extreme heat "is a new reality that demands attention, adaptation, and solidarity within our profession."

Acknowledging the physical toll of guiding, Italy's Certified Tour Guide Association is calling for the Colosseum's summer opening hours (8:30am to 7:15pm) to be extended to allow tours in the early mornings and late evenings, when temperatures are cooler. "Climate change is a fact and for some years, working at the Roman Forum from 10:00 to 4:30pm has been unbearable," the group says, adding it's been pushing for new opening hours of 7am to 8:15pm for three years. "These changes would benefit the public health of everyone: visitors, guides and other workers," it adds, per the Guardian.