Italy moves to aid Pompeii after collapse

ROME, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The Italian government will set up a foundation for Pompeii's preservation after part of the ruins collapsed, the culture minister said Wednesday.

Sandro Bondi said he would not resign over the destruction of the famous Gladiator School Saturday, the ANSA news agency reported. "The collapse of one building can't wipe out the work we have done over the past two years," he said.

"The problem is in the management, not in resources," Bondi told parliament, saying the Roman site draws more than $70 million annually from visitors. "We need management that uses the resources better."

The new foundation, he said, would "assess the state of decay" all over Pompeii and choose a course of action.

The collapse of the Gladiator school has brought new charges that the 2,000-year-old site is not being properly protected. More than 2 million people a year visit Pompeii, which was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.