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Rescuers desperately try to save survivors after up to 12 are killed as terrifying landslide engulfs buildings and sweeps cars into the sea during heavy rain on Italian island
- Torrential rainfall on the small Italian island of Ischia has triggered massive landslides, collapsing buildings
- Emergency services are rushing to save residents who have become trapped in buildings and mudslides
- More than 100 people are still stranded and at least 12 are missing in the disaster at the holiday resort
- One woman’s body was found by emergency services under mud, while the rescue operation continues
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A woman was found dead and around 10 people were still missing on the southern Italian holiday island of Ischia after a landslide engulfed buildings during heavy rain on Saturday, a local Italian government official said.
Heavy rainfall has triggered massive landslides on the Italian island, collapsing buildings and leaving up to a dozen people unaccounted for.
An announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini earlier stated eight people had died, later contradicted by Italy’s interior minister.
The only confirmed death is that of a the woman, whose body found by emergency services submerged under one of the mudslides.
Torrential rain hit the port of Casamicciola Terme, one of the six small towns on the island, in the early hours of Saturday, triggering major flooding which crushed cars and turned streets on the island into rivers.
‘At the moment there are no confirmed deaths,’ said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, speaking from the firefighters’ emergency co-ordination centre.
Mr Salvini, who is also the infrastructure minister, earlier said that eight deaths had been confirmed, speaking to reporters at the opening of a subway extension in Milan.
Torrential rainfall on the Italian island of Ischia triggered heavy landslides, sweeping away cars and collapsing buildings
Emergency services are racing to rescue those trapped by the landslides, with at least 12 people still reported missing
Cars were swept into the sea as catastrophic flooding battered the small towns on the island from the early hours of Saturday
Residents have been left shaken by the scale of the devastation caused by the flash flooding and landslides today
A man walks through an area torn apart by the landslides, with currents so strong they crushed cars and wrecked homes
The point of the mountain from which a landslide originated in Casamicciola, Ischia island, in the Gulf of Naples
A bus can be seen immersed in mud on the shore of the southern Italian island, which is located off the bay of Naples
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Buildings in Ischia were buried under rubble and debris carried by the flash floods following the downpours this morning
Dramatic footage shows a resident covered in mud trying to climb their way out of the swamp created by the landslide underneath a collapsed building as emergency services call to him and try to get him out
Residents were evacuated from their homes as the mudslides collapsed buildings and cut people off from emergency services
A whole bus was swept away by the landslides in the sea in Casamicciola as rescuers frantically search for those still missing
A damaged car lies in a street following a landslide on the Italian holiday island of Ischia
The small rural communities on the island have been devastated by the flooding as enormous mudslides tore through the towns
Officials were unclear on the death toll, with Italy’s interior minister saying that there had been no confirmed deaths while the deputy prime minister said there were eight
Streets in towns in Ischia were turned into rivers as the mudslides ran down the hills on the island into its towns
The prefecture for the Naples region, which includes Ischia, said at least 12 people were missing.
Video from the island shows paths that the landslides had cut down slopes, leaving behind traces of mud. Streets were impassable and mayors on the island urged people to stay at home. At least 100 people were reported stranded.
The news agency ANSA reported that at least 10 buildings had collapsed.
One family with a newborn that was previously reported missing had been located and was receiving medical care, according to the Naples prefect, Claudio Palomba.
Firefighters were working on rescue efforts. Reinforcements were being sent from nearby Naples, but were encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather.
A man surveys the devastation brought about after a mudslide in Ischia, Italy
TRescuers stand next to vehicles carried away after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings and left as many as 12 people missingwo rescue workers
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