ROME — Around a dozen people were missing
Saturday after heavy rains caused a landslide on the Italian island of Ischia,
the interior minister said, but denied earlier reports that eight people were
killed.
اضافة اعلان
A wave of mud and debris swept down the hill in the
small town of Casamicciola Terme in the early hours of the morning, engulfing
at least one house and sweeping cars down to the sea, media reports and emergency
services said.
Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
Matteo Salvini was reported as saying that eight people had been confirmed
dead, but his cabinet colleague later denied this.
“At the moment there are no confirmed deaths,”
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said during a visit to emergency services
helping coordinate the rescue.
He said the situation was evolving but was “very
serious” and complicated, with 12 people missing, and people trapped under the
mud.
Media reports had earlier put the missing at 13, but
officials cautioned that, as poor weather conditions hampered the rescue
effort, the exact picture was unclear.
One family with a newborn baby reported missing
earlier were later found in hospital, a local authority official in Naples,
Claudio Palomba, told the AGI news agency.
He added: “At the moment no bodies have been
recovered.”
Complex rescue operation
The heavy rain sent torrents
of mud through the streets, upturning trees and sweeping away cars, leaving
them battered on the side of the road and some in the water, according to
images published by emergency services and local media.
The fire service earlier said one house had been
overwhelmed by the mud and that two people had been rescued from a car swept
into the sea.
It said help was being sent from
Naples, the nearest
major city, but weather conditions were making it difficult to access the
island.
“The search for the missing, evacuations and help
for people in danger continues,” added the department for civil protection in
an update on Twitter.
“The rescue effort remains complex due to the
weather conditions.”
Local authorities have called on residents of Ischia
to stay inside so as not to hinder the rescue operation.
In the worst affected area of Casamicciola Terme, at
least 30 families were trapped in their homes without water or electricity,
with mud and debris blocking the road, the ANSA news agency reported.
Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni said she was following
the situation, offering her thoughts to those affected.
Casamicciola Terme was hit by an earthquake in 2017,
in which two people died.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
