At least 13 people are missing due to the strong flood of mud that flooded the Italian island of Ischia (south). The authorities continue with the search, confirmed police sources.
? #ischiagive it 5 #cloudfragment sull’isola with allagamenti and smottamenti. In Casamicciola a woman has traveled a house, in corso richerche di eventuali dispersi, while a car is trascinata in mare, saved and 2 occupants. Inviati rinforzi da Napoli [#26novembre 8:30]
— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) November 26, 2022
The island of Ischia, facing the Gulf of Naples, Tonight it recorded torrential rains that caused flooding and a serious landslide that violently dragged everything in its path in the municipality of Casamicciola, on its north face.
? #ischia #cloudfragmentcontinue the intervention of #vigilidelfuoco per il soccorso alla popolazione. Difficultà to raggiungere l’isola with motobarche ed elicotteri [#26novembre 10:30] pic.twitter.com/TAkmL2KURV
— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) November 26, 2022
The number of missing is a provisional balance of the people of whom there is no news as the search efforts have only just begun due to difficulties in accessing the area for emergency teams, which call for caution.
A part of a mountain gave way and hit several houses in the town, which are being tracked by emergency teams, reinforced with units arriving from Naples and other points.
among the missing There are three members of a family, with a small child, and a 25-year-old foreign student whose nationality has not yet been confirmed, according to local media.
All of them were supposedly in the houses flooded by the mud, according to the same sources.
The first images that arrive from the island are of real chaoswith entire neighborhoods destroyed by rocks and trees uprooted, cars buried in the mud and houses destroyed, with dozens of buildings collapsed, at least twenty.
Firefighter spokesman Luca Cari confirmed that several people had already been rescued from the mud, including a man and two others whose vehicle had been dragged into the sea.
The mayor of Ischia, Enzo Ferrandino, asked the population not to leave their homes and lamented “serious damage” in the area.
“It’s a tragedy. The number of missing is still uncertain in Casamicciola. Because of the bad weather on the island we have many other critical situations,” he said.
The rescuers are also trying to access the Terme Manzi hotel in Casamicciola, where some people remain unable to leave without electricity.
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The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, remains in “constant contact” with the Minister for Civil Protection and Sea Policies, Nello Musumeci, and with the regional authorities and expressed her closeness in a statement to those affected.
The island of Ischia is one of the main tourist destinations in Italy during the summer and is part of the Neapolitan archipelago, of volcanic origin and with steep slopes, which is why it often suffers from this type of landslide, the last time in 2009.