Up to a dozen people are missing and one person was killed when heavy rains caused a massive landslide on the southern Italian holiday island of Ischia.
The landslide engulfed buildings, and the remains of a woman were pulled from the mud, Naples prefect Claudio Palomba told reporters.
As rain continued to sock the island, rescuers used small bulldozers to work their way through six-to-seven foot deep muck Saturday, searching for victims. Reinforcements arrived by ferry, including teams of sniffer dogs to assist the search.
Heavy rains caused a landslide to engulf buildings on the southern Italian holiday island of Ischia. REUTERSShortly before dawn, torrential rain pummeled the port of Casamicciola Terme, one of the six small towns on the island, triggering flooding and bringing down buildings. At least 100 people were reported stranded without electricity and water, and about 70 were housed temporarily in a local gymnasium.
The island received nearly five inches of rain in six hours, the heaviest rainfall in two decades, officials said.
There was early confusion over the death toll.
Police officers and the media stand near the damaged cars following the landslide. REUTERS
Vice Premier Matteo Salvini initially said eight people were confirmed dead, but Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said hours later there had been no confirmed deaths yet.
“The situation is very complicated and very serious because probably some of those people are under the mud,” Piantedosi told state TV RAI.
Ischia is a volcanic island 19 miles from Naples that draws visitors to its thermal baths and picturesque coastline.
In 2006 a landslide killed a father and his three daughters on the island.
The south of Italy, where houses are often built illegally in unsafe areas, is susceptible to fatal landslides. In 1998 at least 150 people were killed when mud submerged the village of Sarno.
With Post wires
