Italian island mudslide kills one, dozen missing

CASAMICCIOLA TERME, Italy (AFP) — Italian rescuers were searching for a dozen missing people on the southern island of Ischia on Sunday after a landslide killed at least one person, as the government scheduled an emergency meeting.

Heavy rain sent torrents of mud through the streets of Casamicciola Terme, a settlement on the north of Ischia island near Capri, early Saturday morning, engulfing at least one house and sweeping cars down to the sea, local media and emergency services said.

Rescuers had recovered the body of a 31-year-old woman, according to Italian news agency AGI, with other local media reporting that 13 people had been injured in the incident.

About a dozen people were still unaccounted for by early Saturday evening, according to Claudio Palomba, prefect of Naples, of which the island is part.

But some people who had earlier been reported missing had since been found safe, including one family with a newborn baby, he said.

The rescue effort was hampered by rain and high winds, which also delayed ferries bringing reinforcements from the mainland.

Trees were upturned and cars left battered on the side of the road or in the water, according to AFP journalists.

In the worst-affected area of the town, at least 30 families were trapped in their homes without water or electricity, with mud and debris blocking the road, ANSA news agency reported.