Seven killed, including newborn, in landslides on Italy’s Ischia island

A search team ran down a hillside through a densely populated port town on the resort island of Ischia and found seven dead, including a three-week-old infant and two younger siblings buried in mud and debris, officials said. said on Sunday.

The governor of Naples has confirmed that five people remain missing, fearing they would be buried under the debris of a huge landslide that hit Casamicciola before dawn on Saturday. and pushed the car into the sea.

Other victims were identified as the boy’s parents, a 5-year-old girl and 11-year-old brother, a 31-year-old islander, and a Bulgarian tourist.

“Mud and water tend to fill all the spaces,” Italian firefighter spokesman Luca Cali told RAI state television. “Our team is looking for hope, even if it is very difficult.”

“Our greatest hope is that those identified as missing have taken refuge with relatives and friends and have not been informed of their status,” he added.

A landslide risk remained in the highest part of the town, near which heavy rains had loosened masses on the hillside, requiring search parties to enter on foot, he said.

Small bulldozers were initially focused on clearing roads for rescue vehicles to pass, but submersible teams were enlisted to check for vehicles that had been pushed into the sea.

“We are still searching with a heavy heart as some of the missing are minors,” Giacomo Pascal, mayor of the neighboring town of Lacco Ameno, told RAI.

trendy now

trendy now

Pope Francis expressed his closeness to the people of Ischia during a traditional Sunday blessing in St. Peter’s Square. “I am praying for the victims, those who are suffering, those who are involved in the rescue,” he said.

Naples Governor Claudio Palomba said on Sunday that 30 houses were flooded and more than 200 people had been forced to flee their homes. Five people were injured.

A massive pre-dawn landslide on Saturday, triggered by unusual rainfall, hurled large amounts of mud and debris through Casamicciola’s harbor, causing buildings to collapse and cars to be washed into the sea.

One widely circulated video showed a muddy man clinging to a shutter, submerged up to his chest in muddy water. Another family fled a mountainside home that appeared to be teetering over a cliff on Sunday, according to the Corriere della Sera daily.

Officials said the island received 126 millimeters (nearly 5 inches) of rain in six hours, the heaviest rainfall in 20 years. Experts said the disaster was exacerbated by constructing buildings in high-risk areas on mountainous islands, which are also seismically active areas. Two people died when a magnitude 4.0 earthquake hit Casamicciola and Lacco Ameno in 2017.

“There are areas that cannot be occupied. Zones with water cannot be repurposed. The flow of water has caused this disaster,” geologist Riccardo Caniparoli told RAI. “There are norms and laws that were not respected.”

Vincenzo de Luca, president of the Campagna region where Ischia is located, said houses in the endangered area must be demolished, suggesting they were built without the necessary permits.

“People need to understand that some areas are uninhabitable. There is no need to[build]illegally,” De Luca told RAI. “Buildings in vulnerable zones should be demolished.”

The Italian government declared a state of emergency for the island at an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday and allocated €2 million (about $2.1 million) for rescue and restoration of public services.

“The government expresses its closeness to the citizens, the mayor and the town of Ischia and thanks the rescue workers who are searching for the victims,” ​​Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement.

© 2022 The Canadian Press