Three Sicilian brothers had heart attacks on the same day which killed two of them, while the third was saved because was visiting his mother in hospital, the Corriere della Sera daily said Tuesday.
Guido and Alberto Garofalo were in the middle of a family picnic on Sunday in a pine forest on the slopes of Sicily's Mount Etna volcano when Guido, who was 45, suffered a heart attack and dropped dead on the spot.
His brother Alberto, 54, rushed to his brother's side but was overcome with emotion and his heart also gave way, the paper said.
The third brother, Salvatore, was visiting their elderly mother in hospital in the Sicilian city of Catania at the time and did not know what had happened to Guido and Alberto when he too suffered a heart attack.
He was immediately taken to the emergency room where doctors were able to stabilise his condition, it said.