Italian tenor in grave condition after crash

[August 31, 2011]  ROME (AP) -- An Italian tenor who won fame after subbing for Luciano Pavarotti is fighting for his life in a Sicilian hospital after a road accident.

Salvatore Licitra's website says he is in very serious condition in Catania's Garibaldi hospital. Hospital officials Tuesday could not be reached for comment.

Italian news reports say the 43-year-old suffered severe head and chest injuries when he crashed on his scooter into a wall in southeastern Sicily on Saturday night.

The local website Cataniaoggi quoted the hospital's intensive care chief, Sergio Pintaudi, as saying Licitra likely suffered an interruption of blood flow to the brain just before the crash.

The ANSA news agency reported that Licitra is in a coma.

Licitra stepped in for Pavarotti at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2002.

[Associated Press]

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