A group of parkour acrobats with a large social media following have come under criticism for damaging a historic building in the Italian city of Matera during an online video stunt.
According to combined media reports, the London-based Team Phat have attracted 240,000 followers on Instagram and 60,000 subscribers on YouTube for their ability to climb, leap and flip around public structures and buildings. The group was recently in Matera, a city that was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 and was crowned “European Capital of Culture” in 2019, where 23-year-old parkour athlete Devon McIntosh engaged in a stunt where he jumped off the roof of a building and tried to land on a stone protruding from the wall of an adjacent building. However, the stone broke upon impact and McIntosh fell to the ground, where he clutched his ankle.
However, most of the online reaction in Matera was less sympathetic to McIntosh and more concerned about the structural damage from his stunt. As one Instagram fan of Team Phat stated, “I love you guys, but it was really wrong to break that rock that likely had a lot of history and pride for the owners and original builders.”
Matera city officials were not aware of the damage created by the stunt until after the Team Phat video posted. The office of Matera’s mayor stated they were investigating the depth of damage. Team Phat did not publicly comment on what transpired – although their video has attracted 52,000 views on YouTube and over 60,000 likes on Instagram.
Photo: Screen shot of the Team Phat stunt that went awry
;
