An American tourist was rescued after falling into the crater of Mount Vesuvius trying to retrieve his phone.

Italian media said the 23-year-old had been trying to take a selfie at the summit when his phone slipped out of his grasp and into the crater.

He tried to reach the device during Saturday’s incident, but then fell a number of metres into the mouth of the volcano.

Vesuvius guides, overseen by a rescue helicopter, abseiled into the crater to reach the man, who later needed treatment for minor injuries.

Reports said the tourist and three relatives had taken a forbidden route to the summit and face charges.

Mount Vesuvius in Italy is regarded by experts to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, with a population of about 600,000 living within its danger zone.

Any eruption would also have an impact on three million people in the Naples area.

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Its eruption in 79AD buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash and rock.

Vesuvius remains the only volcano situated on the European mainland to have erupted in the last 100 years.

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When it erupted in 1913, Vesuvius remained active until 1944.

The volcano’s crater has a diameter of 450 metres and a depth of 300m. The highest peak of Vesuvius is 1,277 metres.

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