Landslide traps Italians under tonnes of mud on Ischia

At least one person is dead and a dozen still missing on the Italian holiday island of ­Ischia after a major landslide.

A street in Casamicciola devastated by the mudslide. Picture: AFP

At least one person is dead and a dozen still missing or trapped on the Italian holiday island of ­Ischia after a major landslide buried buildings under tonnes of mud and debris.

Emergency workers battled in torrential rain to free survivors and search for bodies after a section of a mountain above the town of Casamicciola Terme collapsed, sending a torrent of mud surging down steep, bougainvillea-filled streets.

Officials on the island near ­Naples reported 300 residents were forced from their homes and 10 houses collapsed after they were engulfed by the landslide, which swept trees and cars as far as the island’s seafront and out into the waves, leading to a search for bodies at sea.

“I am trying to call people who are missing but they are not picking up,” said Father Gino Ballirano, a local priest. “I am trying to get there but the road outside my house is blocked by a wall of cars and trees.”

The landslide occurred in the early hours of Saturday after at least 125mm of rain fell in six hours after a long, dry autumn.

The Italian ministry of defence promised to send Chinook helicopters to aid the rescue effort, but firefighter spokesman Luca Cari said a violent storm in the Bay of Naples made flying impossible.

Rescue workers who made it to the 29sq km island found one man up to his neck in swirling mud ­inside his garage. Elsewhere in Casamicciola, a massive boulder pinned a smashed car to the side of a building, while two survivors were plucked from other cars ­before they were washed out to sea.

The violent rainfall in Ischia was typical of the increasing number of storms, tornadoes and hailstorms afflicting Italy as the Mediterranean warms. Humidity billowing into the atmosphere quickly condenses as it hits the Italian coast, leading to heavy downpours.

Ischia is doubly vulnerable to extreme weather because of the vast number of illegal and unlicensed houses clinging to hillsides and blocking water courses.

On Saturday, Coldiretti, a farmer’s lobby group, said the landslide was a result of the concreting-over of Italy combined with the “tropicalisation” of Italy.

Despite Ischia’s much-vaunted beauty, it is believed that half its 20,000 residents have built or modified their homes without a permit. A minor earthquake on the island in 2017 left 2600 people homeless as shoddily built houses cracked and toppled.

The Times