"It's a tragedy": Landslide on Italian holiday island causes chaos - coastal town fatally hit
Created: 11/27/2022, 11:56 am
By: Martina Lippl
Devastating landslide on the island of Ischia: aerial photos show how the mudslide destroyed houses and buildings.
© Salvatore Laporta/dpa
Destroyed houses, cars torn into the sea and buses that sink in masses of mud.
After the severe storm on Ischia, emergency services continue to search for missing persons.
Ischia – While it was still dark at dawn on Saturday (November 26), a storm hit the Italian island of Ischia.
Around five o'clock, torrential water masses caused flooding and chaos.
A mudslide with boulders and debris rolled down the slope towards the sea in the coastal town of Casamicciola.
She tore everything in her path, even cars and buses into the sea.
Storm in Italy: "It's a tragedy," says the island of Ischia
So far, one fatality, a 31-year-old woman, has been officially confirmed.
Her body is said to have been recovered from the mud by the emergency services.
Her husband is still missing, Italian media reports.
The grief for the woman in the social networks is great, it is said.
Rescue teams continued to search for missing people throughout the night hoping to find the 11 missing, including two children.
Divers search every centimeter at the port, Italian media reports.
"It's a tragedy," the head of civil defense told journalists.
The situation on site is complicated 24 hours after the landslide.
The sun is currently shining over the popular holiday island in the Gulf of Naples, but there is a strong wind.
And in the south of Italy - also on the island of Ischia - more storms are expected.
Civil protection has issued an orange alert for the region.
However, with new rains, the risk of new landslides in the Casamicciola area increases.
The risks are always difficult to assess, but they are there, said Mauro di Vito, director of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), as reported by the Italian news channel Rai.
After the devastating landslide, criticism of the authorities is loud.
Too little has been done to protect it in recent years.
The northern towns on the island of Ischia Casamicciola and Lacco Ameno were considered risk areas for landslides.
Storm in Ischia (Italy): Dramatic images after landslide
200 people are to be evacuated, reports the Italian news agency ANSA.
A state of emergency is expected to be declared on Sunday morning.
Eight missing people, including a newborn, have been surfaced and are safe.
Tragedy on the Italian holiday island of Ischia: mud wave devours houses and buses, as can be seen in the photo.
© ELIANO IMPERATO/afp
Pictures on television showed a slope undergoing a landslide and a man chest-deep in water on a building covered in mud in the dark.
Videos from the fire brigade showed completely demolished cars and streets flooded with rubble and earth.
Severe storms have been hitting Italy for a week.
A historic storm surge threatened Venice.
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