Tourist killed by falling masonry at famous Florence basilica

A Spanish tourist has been killed after he was hit by falling masonry as he visited a church in Florence.

The 52-year-old was struck by a decorative stone fragment that fell from a height of 66ft as he visited the Basilica of Santa Croce with his wife.

Italian media said the fragment was about six inches square and had supported a beam.

The 15th-century church - where Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli are buried and a top tourist attraction - has been undergoing a maintenance programme.

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said an investigation would try to determine whether faulty work was to blame.

The church's stability is being checked. It is expected to remain closed to visitors indefinitely.

"We are really astonished at what has happened, and we ask ourselves how it could happen," the head of the organisation that manages the church, Irene Sanesi, told Italian news agency Ansa.

There have been other serious incidents among Italy's rich cultural heritage.

In 1989, a 14th-century bell tower in Pavia collapsed, killing four people.

And in October 2012, a cornice fell from the wall of the Royal Palace of Caserta, near Naples.

Despite part of the roof caving in, just a few feet from tourists, no one was injured.