Italy: rescuers are looking for a dozen missing people after the landslide of Ischia

emergency teams On Sunday they were looking for a dozen missing people on the island of Ischiain southern Italy, after a landslide that killed at least one and prompted the government to convene an emergency meeting.

An avalanche of mud and debriscaused by heavy rains, devastated the small town of Casamicciola Terme, in the north of the island of Ischia, off the coast of Naples on Saturday morning.

Rescuers have found the body of a woman, announced Claudio Palomba, prefect of Naples. According to the AGI agency, she was 31 years old.

The Italian press reports it as well as 13 wounded.

With life

Some of the people initially reported as missing, They were later found safe and sound.including a family with a newborn, the prefect said.

But by mid-afternoon on Saturday, a dozen people were still missing, the manager added.

“We fear there are more victims, but so far the number is (of one deceased),” fire brigade spokesman Luca Cari told AFP.

Rescue operations were hampered due to the constant rains and the winds, which also delayed the arrival of the ferries with the help of the continent.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi called the situation “very serious” and warned that several people were still trapped under the mud.

Dispute

The management of the disaster gave rise to a stumbling block for the government: Piantedosi denied a statement by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who had suffered eight deaths in the tragedyexplaining that this balance had not been confirmed.

The landslide swept away trees and vehicles, some of which even reached the sea.

Mud “buried a house” and two people were saved of a car that had been swept into the sea, firefighters said.

At least 30 families are trapped in their homes. due to the mud, without water or electricity, reports the ANSA agency. The road that gave access to the neighborhood was cut by mud and rubble.

Rescue services planned to evacuate 150 to 200 people on Saturday night so they could spend the night in temporary shelters.

The authorities have invited the inhabitants to stay in their homes so as not to hinder the work of the rescuers.

“Rescue work they are still complex due to the weather conditions”, reports the civil protection department. The operations continued, however, throughout the night thanks to the use of torches and floodlights.

Italy’s Prime Minister, far-right Giorgia Meloni, said she was following the situation and this Sunday he was due to hold an extraordinary cabinet meeting to deal with the situation.

Casamicciola Terme, a tourist town of 8,000 inhabitants on the island of Ischia, has already recorded an earthquake in 2017 that caused two deaths.

At the end of the 19th century, a much more powerful earthquake totally destroyed the city.

Saturday’s tragedy comes weeks after 11 people died in torrential rains that hit central and eastern Italy.

Source: AFP

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