Twelve people were missing on Saturday morning after a landslide caused by heavy rain on the Italian island of Ischia, off Naples, according to Italian news agencies ANSA and Time.news. “At this precise moment, no death has been confirmed,” said Matteo Piantedosi, the Italian Interior Minister, while pointing out that the situation could still evolve.
Previous press reports announced the death of at least eight people, but an Italian minister has denied these allegations. “There are eight confirmed dead after the landslide in Ischia,” said Matteo Salvini, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Antimigrant League, quoted by the Time.news agency and the daily. The Republic.
An earthquake in 2017
The landslide occurred in the town of Casamicciola Terme, in the north of the island, and “buried a house” and threw several cars into the sea, said the fire department, adding that they were looking for of the missing. Earlier in the day, the agencies specified that thirteen people were wanted.
A car swept into the sea had two people on board, but they were rescued, firefighters said. The local authorities have called on the inhabitants of the island to stay at home, so as not to interfere with the rescue operations. Casamicciola Terme, a spa resort with 8,000 inhabitants in winter, suffered an earthquake in 2017 that killed two people. It had, however, been completely destroyed by a much more powerful earthquake at the end of the 19th century.