Venice mayor rages at ‘cretin’ tourist filmed belly flopping 30ft into a canal wearing just his pants

THE mayor of Venice has raged at a “cretin” tourist who was filmed belly flopping 30ft into the city’s famous canals.

He said the fool should be “kicked up the backside” after the video emerged on social media, which sparked fury among locals.

Footage showed the tourist in nothing but boxer shorts as he stood on the ledge of the 30ft palazzo and psyched himself to jump into the canal below.

Local bystanders were then heard calling out to him in Italian, begging him not to jump.

Ignoring their warnings, the man belly flopped into the water.

He appeared to go unscathed from his daring stupidity but once the video was posted online the man was labelled a “cretin”.

Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, took to Twitter slamming the foolish behaviour.

He said: “We should give a certificate of stupidity and a good number of kicks up the backside to this individual.

“We are trying to identify and charge him, along with his friend who took a video of the cretin for social media.

“These people are risking their necks just for a few likes.

“They have no regard for the danger they pose… imagine if a boat had passed beneath.”

According to local media, the man was lucky not to be seriously injured as some of Venice’s canals had been drained in the last few weeks.

Tourists jumping off cliffs or piers into water has trended online and is known as “tombstoning”.

However, the act is incredibly dangerous and can have serious ramifications.

Shocking footage showed the moment a 22-year-old woman “burst” her spine open after jumping 30ft from a bridge into a river.

Another Brit was filmed jumping into the sea on holiday before he was gunned down.