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Emergency services clean up on Ischia
Photo: GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE / REUTERS
On the Italian island of Ischia, heavy rains over the weekend led to flooding and landslides.
Rescue workers have now found an eighth victim.
It was a man, according to a message from the fire department on Twitter.
The search team found him in Casamicciola, one of the badly hit places in the north of the island by heavy rain and storms.
This reduced the number of missing people to four.
Late on Sunday evening, the prefecture in Naples, southern Italy, had confirmed seven more fatalities and announced more details: According to them, a 22-day-old baby, an eleven-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister were among them.
In addition, the forces discovered three dead women and a man.
Numerous buildings were damaged in the storm.
Masses of mud drifted through the streets into the houses, destroyed cars and tore them into the sea.
The government in Rome declared a state of emergency on Sunday and pledged two million euros in aid for the largest island in the Gulf of Naples.
Critics pointed to the risk of landslides caused by storms on the island's built-up slopes, which has been known for years, and that the authorities had done too little to protect them.
In addition, according to media reports, some houses are said to have been built there without the appropriate tests and permits.
After the storm on Ischia, the head of Italian civil protection warned of the risk of flooding and erosion throughout the country.
For 94 percent of the municipalities there is a risk of flooding, landslides and erosion on the coasts, said Fabrizio Curcio in an interview with the newspaper "La Stampa".
"All of Italy is in danger."
Curcio called for more prevention and improvement in the construction of weirs and on river banks.
People would also have to adjust their behavior in the event of severe weather warnings.
"Events like that on Ischia are becoming more frequent: this is the time for doing, not for thinking," he said.
kha/dpa
