At least one woman has died and twelve people are missing after a landslide swept away dozens of homes on the Italian island of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples, Neapolitan prefect Claudio Palomba has confirmed.
The most affected place has been the municipality of Casamicciola Terme, which ended up half submerged during the night due to torrential rains.
Although the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, estimated that the landslide has left at least eight people dead, both Palomba and the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, refrained from giving a concrete figure until further progress is made in the rescue work.
«There is currently one confirmed death, a woman. Eight people have been found missing, including a child, and we still have a dozen unaccounted for,» Palombo lamented at a press conference. The death has also been confirmed by the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi.
For his part, Piantedosi confirmed that «operations are proceeding with difficulty because the weather conditions are very demanding.» «I am in close contact with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and my fellow ministers. We are facing a very serious and evolving situation,» he added in statements reported by ‘Il Messaggero’.
On a positive note, in the last few hours a family and a newborn baby who were thought to be missing have been found and are now receiving medical treatment. At least 200 people have been evacuated by the floods, according to medical services.
