70 000 gather for Venice Carnival's 'Flight of the Angel'

Some 70 000 people gathered at St Mark's Square in Venice Sunday for the "flight of the angel," a traditional annual event marking the city's famous carnival.

At noon, a beauty queen in a red-and-white costume swung off the 99-metre-high bell tower of St Mark's to the square below, Italian media reported.

This year's edition of the carnival began on January 26 and ends on February 12. It includes masked balls, concerts and other revelry in various locations around the lagoon city.