A 23-year-old American tourist nearly died in Italy after falling into a volcano crater while trying to recover his mobile phone, authorities said Monday.

The rescue workers who witnessed the incident sprang into action and managed to pull the man to safety.

Italian officials said the man, identified as Philip Carroll, from Baltimore, Maryland, was at Mount Vesuvius, located on the Gulf of Naples on the southwestern coast of Italy, with three relatives Saturday when the incident took place.

The family reportedly began their hike from the town of Ottaviano and scaled a forbidden trail leading to the top of the over 4,000-feet-high volcano.

"This family took another trail, closed to tourists, even if there was a small gate and 'no access' signs," Paolo Cappelli, president of the Presidio Permanente Vesuvio, a base of tour guides at the top of Vesuvius, told NBC News.

When they made it to the top, Carroll stopped to take a selfie. However, his phone fell into the crater. When he tried to recover it, the man pummeled a good few meters into the crater and nearly to his death.

"He managed to stop his fall, but at that point he was stuck," Cappelli recalled, adding that the man was still "very lucky."

"If he kept going, he would have plunged 300 meters into the crater," he said further.

Carroll suffered cuts and bruises on his arms and back, a picture obtained by Today showed.

Guides from Presidio Permanente Vesuvio saw him slide into the crater from the opposite side of the volcano's rim using binoculars and rushed to his aid. After he was rescued, Carroll was reportedly taken into custody by the local Carabinieri police. However, it was unclear if he was facing any charges.

A deathly eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD inundated cities like Pompeii, Oplontis and Stabiae with a 23-foot-deep layer of volcanic debris. The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius took place in 1944. Though still active, the volcano is currently in a state of repose CNN reported, citing Vesuvius National Park's website.

The cone-shaped crater of Mount Vesuvius has a diameter of 450 meters and is 300 meters deep, the outlet further noted.

Vesuvius Day: First Recorded Volcanic Eruption
August 24 is celebrated as Vesuvius Day to commemorate the eruption in A.D. 79. In this image: A cloud of ash hangs over Vesuvius during its worst eruption in more than 70 years. In the foreground is the city of Naples. Getty Images/Keystone
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