Renowned Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra died overnight, a week after he suffered serious injuries to his head and chest in a road accident while on a scooter in Sicily, Italian media reported yesterday.

The Swiss-born singer was not wearing a helmet, while his 29-year-old Chinese partner was protected by her helmet and suffered only light injuries.

Mr Licitra, who was born in 1968, was to receive an award on Saturday in Ragusa where the accident happened.

The hospital in Catania where he underwent treatment confirmed that he had been brain dead and his family gave permission to donate his organs, La Repubblica neswspaper said on its website.

The accident happened late on August 27 when Mr Licitra lost control of his Vespa scooter near Ragusa, possibly after suffering a stroke, and crashed into a wall.

He was born in Bern, Switzerland to Sicilian emigrants and started his singing career in the northern city of Parma in 1998.

His career took off when he replaced Luciano Pavarotti at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 2002 in the role of Caravadossi in Tosca.

Mr Licitra sang under Riccardo Muti at Milan’s La Scala and many other opera houses.

“My son was given the gift of the belcanto which made him a great singer who was acclaimed throughout the world,” his mother Paola said in a letter to the hospital.