The Italian Ministry of the Interior affirmed, on Saturday November 26, that, contrary to a report reported by several media and taken up by The worldno deaths had been confirmed after the landslide on the island of Ischia. “At this precise moment, no death is confirmed”said Matteo Piantedosi, reporting twelve missing and people trapped under the mud.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, had previously been quoted by several media, reporting eight deaths in this landslide caused by heavy rainfall.
Earlier in the morning, the Italian news agencies ANSA and AGI reported thirteen people missing. “No body has been found yet”said a local official in Naples, Claudio Palomba, quoted by the AGI news agency.
Thirty families trapped in the mud
The landslide occurred in the town of Casamicciola Terme, in the north of the island, and “buried a house” and threw several cars overboard, the fire department reported. A car was swept into the sea with two people on board, but they could be saved, firefighters said.
At least 30 families are trapped in their homes by mud, without water or electricity, the ANSA news agency said, adding that the road leading to their neighborhood was cut off by the mudslide and debris.
Local authorities have urged residents of the island to stay at home, so as not to interfere with rescue operations.
Casamicciola Terme, a spa resort with eight thousand inhabitants in winter, suffered an earthquake in 2017 that killed two people. On the other hand, it had been completely destroyed by a much more powerful earthquake at the end of the 19th century.e century.