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Man's unlucky death while fleeing Pompeii eruption

Officials at the archaeological site of Pompeii have discovered the skeleton of a man who was crushed by an enormous stone as he tried to flee the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD.

On Tuesday, a new photograph showed the skeleton protruding from under a large block of stone that may have been part of a door which was thrown by the huge volcanic eruption.

The victim, who was estimated to be over 30, suffered a crushed thorax.

The man was crushed as he attempted to escape the Mount Vesuvius eruption. Source: Parco Archeologico di Pompei
The man was crushed as he attempted to escape the Mount Vesuvius eruption. Source: Parco Archeologico di Pompei
The skeleton has been described as an ‘exceptional find’. Source: Parco Archeologico di Pompei
The skeleton has been described as an ‘exceptional find’. Source: Parco Archeologico di Pompei

His head is yet to be discovered and officials believed that he may have suffered from a leg infection that caused walking difficulties, potentially stopping him from making an escape.

Massimo Osanna, the site’s general director, described it as ‘an exceptional find’, that contributes to a better “picture of the history and civilisation of the age”.

A statement confirmed: ‘A formidable stone block (perhaps a door jamb), violently thrown by the volcanic cloud, collided with his upper body, crushing the highest part of the thorax and yet-to-be-identified head, which probably lies under the stone block.’