One person is dead and at least 12 are missing after a severe storm triggered a landslide on the southern Italian island of Ischia on Saturday, authorities said.
Update 1:42 p.m. EST Nov. 26: The body of a woman was pulled from the mud, Naples prefect Claudio Palomba told reporters during a news conference, The Associated Press reported.
The resort island of Ischia received nearly 5 inches of rain in six hours, officials said. That is the heaviest rainfall in 20 years, according to the AP.
Original report: The news agency ANSA reported that at least 10 buildings had collapsed on the island, located in the Gulf of Naples off the Italian coast, The Associated Press reported.
The missing people included at least three children, according to the news organization. One is believed to be a newborn child, The Guardian reported.
Italy’s interior minister said no deaths had yet been confirmed, according to the AP.
“At the moment there are no confirmed deaths,” Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told reporters.
That contradicted an earlier statement from Italian Vice Premier Matteo Salvini, who said that eight people had died as a result of the landslide, according to the AP and The Guardian.
Firefighters in Italy said that a rainstorm began at about 4 a.m. local time, causing flooding and a landslide on the island, Reuters reported. Reinforcements were being sent from nearby Naples but were having difficulties reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter because of the weather, according to the AP.
“Rescuers are working in difficult conditions,” Salvini said, according to Sky News.
Electricity has been cut off in the affected area. Approximately 30 families have been stranded in their homes in the hamlet of Lacco Ameno, The Guardian reported.
“It’s a complicated situation, houses have been uprooted by the landslide,” police chief Tiziano Laganà told La Repubblica.
Ischia Mayor Enzo Ferrandino has urged residents to remain in their homes, The Guardian reported.
The island is known for its natural hot springs and has a population of 20,000.
“It’s a tragedy, the number of missing people in Casamicciola is still uncertain,” Ferrandino told the news organization. “Due to bad weather on the island of Ischia we also have situations in other areas, such as flooding, but fortunately not particularly serious.”
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