Residents of Rome have given mixed reviews to three fake bombings to test the city's emergency response, although one startled woman collapsed in a faint.
In the drill Monday, officials tried to minimize traffic problems by cordoning off a large triangle of the city, The Washington Post reported. However, that created huge traffic jams near the Coliseum, a site near the central train station and a major boulevard.
Volunteers acting as bombing victims lounged around the streets smoking cigarettes as tourists gathered around the perimeter to watch.
"It took rescuers 20 minutes to get here. They were too slow, and too late," said one Austrian tourist.
Carlo Minotti, an accountant, looked over the scene and said it was too relaxed and staged.
"They have to hold one of these by surprise, with the traffic included, and then see how things go," he said.
However, one woman was carted away in an ambulance after fainting when she saw fake victims being carried out of the subway station on a stretcher.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
