Dozen missing after slide hits Italian island

Heavy rainfall caused a major landslide early Saturday on the southern Italian resort island of Ischia that destroyed buildings and swept parked cars into the sea, leaving at least one person dead and up to 12 missing.

The body of a woman was recovered, said Naples prefect Claudio Palomba.

With rain continuing to fall, rescuers were working gingerly with bulldozers to pick through some six to seven yards of mud and debris in the search for possible victims. Reinforcements arrived by ferry, including teams of sniffer dogs to help the search efforts.

“The situation is very complicated and very serious because probably some of those people are under the mud,” Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told RAI state TV from an emergency command center in Rome.

The force of the mud sliding down the mountainside just before dawn was strong enough to send cars and buses onto beaches and into the sea at the port of Casamicciola, on the north end of the island, which lies off Naples.

Streets were impassable and mayors on the island urged people to stay home. ANSA reported that at least 10 buildings had collapsed.

Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse Mud and debris fill streets after heavy rainfall caused a landslide that collapsed buildings and mangled vehicles in the port city of Casamicciola on the southern Italian island of Ischia.