Landslide on Italian island kills at least three people

CASAMICCIOLA TERME, Italy — At least three people, including a young girl, were killed on the southern Italian holiday island of Ischia after a landslide caused by torrential rain devastated a small town, the office of the prefect of Naples said on Sunday.

Emergency workers stepped up search efforts a day after a landslide caused by torrential rain devastated Casamicciola Terme.

Some 10 people were still missing, according to data provided by the prefect earlier on Sunday.

Dozens of emergency officials have rushed to floodstricken island.

On Sunday, rescue divers joined the efforts, searching the waters off the port of Casamicciola, where a wave of mud, debris and stones broke away from the island’s highest mountain on Saturday and crashed down over houses and roads.

Pictures and aerial video shots showed buildings smashed by the landslide and several cars pushed into the sea by what one resident described as “a waterfall of water and mud.”

Italy’s new right-wing government led by Giorgia Meloni held a cabinet meeting on Sunday and issued a decree aimed at providing swift help to people in need following the disaster, including 167 people who were evacuated.

The decree earmarked an initial aid package of two million euros and envisaged a suspension of tax payments for residents until the end of the year. Densely populated, Ischia is a volcanic island which lies some 30 kilometres from Naples. It draws visitors to its thermal baths and picturesque coastline.