An Italian tourist drowned due to an illness in front of the beach of Barra da Tijuca, near the Grand Hyatt Hotel, in the west of Rio. His name was Marco Nastasi, 39 years old, originally from Mezzolombardo in Trentino. The man had been living in Colombia for a few years and, according to what was reconstructed by the municipal secretariat of health, was in Rio de Janeiro on vacation.
According to the first reconstructions, the man entered the water and then found it difficult to return to shore. Rescued by helicopter by firefighters, Nastasi was still alive when he was brought back to the beach, but allegedly suffered a cardio-circulatory arrest while in an ambulance, on the way to the hospital. These days the sea of the Carioca coast is very agitated, with strong currents, so much so that the Brazilian Navy in recent days had issued an alert (valid until today) warning of waves up to three meters high.
"Even though he had left the country, he often returned to Trentino to visit his parents, family and friends. It is a great tragedy that affects us a lot, everyone remembers Marco with great affection and the community is close to the family, the community is very affected by this mourning", said the mayor of Mezzolombardo, Christian Girardi, to the online newspaper Il Dolomiti.
"The community was very shocked by this terrible news we are very close to the family for this difficult time and of enormous pain. The Municipality has taken action with the family to ensure full support in the practices for the return of the body", added the mayor.
From what we learn, the Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro is assisting the family to facilitate the procedures for repatriating the body.