Firefighters prepare to transport the gondola after it crashed with a boat in Venice. (Reuters)

Venice, Aug. 17 (AP): A German tourist has died in Venice after the gondola he was riding in crashed into a larger boat ferrying passengers along the Grand Canal.

Venice fire chief of staff Giovanni Carlesso said the crash occurred around noon near the Rialto bridge.

He said the vaporetto, or the public “water bus” that plies the lagoon city, was either docking or pulling out of the Rialto stop and apparently did not see the nearby gondola, which was carrying five members of a visiting German family. Carlesso said the father was believed to have been crushed to death in the crash.