Italy: 12 missing in landslide, no death confirmed

The Italian interior minister said on Saturday that 12 people were missing after a landslide on the island of Ischia off Naples, but no deaths had been confirmed.

Heavy rain caused a landslide in the northern town of Casamicciola Terme on Saturday morning. Several Italian media quoted Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini as saying eight people had died, a claim denied by the interior minister. “At this precise moment, no death has been confirmed,” Matteo Piandosi said, while hinting that the situation could still evolve. He said twelve people were missing and people were trapped in the mud.

According to Italian news agencies ANSA and AGI, 13 people were missing by the end of the morning. “No body has been found yet,” local Naples official Claudio Palomba said, quoted by the AGI news agency.

The landslide “buried a house” and threw several cars into the sea, the fire department said, adding that it was searching for missing people. A car with two people was swept into the sea, but firefighters said they were rescued.

At least 30 families were trapped in their homes in the mud without water or electricity, the ANSA news agency said, as the road to their neighborhood was cut off by mudslides and debris. Local authorities have called on island residents to stay at home to avoid interfering with rescue efforts.

Casamicciola Terme, a spa resort of 8,000 people in the winter, was hit by an earthquake in 2017 that killed two people. However, it was completely destroyed by a very powerful earthquake at the end of the 19th century.