Hunt for missing people after landslide
ITALIAN rescuers were searching for a dozen missing people on the southern island of Ischia yesterday after a landslide killed at least one person, as the government scheduled an emergency meeting.
A wave of mud and debris swept through the small town of Casamicciola Terme early on Saturday morning, engulfing at least one house and sweeping cars down to the sea, emergency services said.
Rescuers had recovered the body of a woman, 31, with media reporting 13 people had been injured.
About a dozen people were still unaccounted for by early Saturday evening, said Claudio Palomba, prefect of Naples, of which the island is part.
But some people who had earlier been reported missing had since been found safe, including one family with a newborn baby, he said.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tweeted her sympathy to those affected, saying she had called an extraordinary cabinet meeting yesterday to discuss
the disaster. “There might be other victims, but so far the current figure is one dead,” said Luca Cari, a spokesperson for the fire service.
The rescue effort was hampered by rain and high winds, which also delayed ferries bringing reinforcements from the mainland. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi had earlier warned people were trapped in the mud, saying it was a “very serious” situation.
But he denied a statement by his colleague Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister, that eight people had died, saying this had not been confirmed.
Heavy rain sent torrents of mud through the streets of Casamicciola Terme, a settlement on the north of Ischia, a lush island near Capri.
Trees were upturned and cars left battered on the side of the road or in the water. The fire service said earlier one house had been overwhelmed by the mud and two people had been rescued from a car swept into the sea.
In the worst-affected area of the town, at least 30 families were trapped in their homes without water or electricity, with mud and debris blocking the road. Officials have to find temporary homes for up to 200 people.