Woman crashes stolen boat into Venice's historic Rialto Bridge

A woman crashed a stolen cargo boat into Venice's 16th-century Rialto Bridge on Thursday, damaging the historic structure's stone balustrade and sending parcels into the Grand Canal.

The woman, identified as an Italian of Tunisian background, initially attempted to steal packages from a traditional Venetian "topo" — meaning "mouse" — delivery boat moored near the bridge while courier operators were away, Venice police said.

When witnesses spotted her, she boarded the vessel, started the engine and sped into the canal before losing control and smashing into the bridge's side balustrade, police said.

The impact destroyed three posts and broke the balustrade support. Multiple packages fell into the water and were later recovered by authorities, along with fragments of the stone balustrade.

The woman rifled through employees' belongings before taking the boat, stealing cigarettes from a worker's backpack and locating the keys in a box kept on the vessel, according to the boat's owner Alvise Brussa.

"It has happened that they stole packages, never the entire boat," Brussa told local media.

"She rummaged through the personal belongings of the workers and took cigarettes from an employee's backpack, then she found the key box and took them, managing to start the engine and accelerate."

"Thank God no one was hurt," Brussa said.

The suspect was subject to a DASPO, an administrative ban prohibiting her from entering Venice for three years, authorities said.

The measure had been imposed due to previous offences against property. Despite the ban, she had been repeatedly identified by police in Mestre and the Venetian mainland, according to local reports.

Venice police arrested the woman on charges of aggravated theft and other offences.

Concerns over Rialto damage

The Rialto Bridge, a stone structure built between 1588 and 1591, suffered significant damage that authorities are still assessing.

"Restoration will be difficult, but not impossible," Giovanni Giusto, a marble cutter who oversaw a previous restoration of the balustrade in 2008, told Italian news agency Ansa.

Giusto said the priority is recovering all fragments, including those in the water, but added that some imaginative work will be required because not all pieces will be found.

No one was injured in the incident despite heavy traffic of gondolas and motorboats in the area, authorities said.

The crash occurred during the height of the Christmas delivery period along the Grand Canal, one of Venice's busiest waterways.