At least 13 people were reported missing on the Italian island of Ischia after a landslide caused by heavy rainfall.
Among the missing include a family with a newborn child and a 25-year-old living in two houses in the northern Casamicciola Terme comune.
Alarming photos show how the landslide ripped through houses on Via Celario, tearing down buildings and turning the once luscious cliffside into muddy rubble.
According to the Ansa news agency, Giacomo Pascale, the mayor of the neighbouring commune Lacco Ameno, said: ‘There are 20-30 isolated families and a dozen collapsed buildings.’
Areas heavily impacted by the landslide are still unreachable to rescue workers.
This includes a family who lives near the Pizza Maio town square, the agency understands.
Italy’s national fire brigade, Vigili del Fuoco, said a cloudburst – a short yet intense rainstorm – struck the paradise island off the coast of Naples during its rainy season.
‘Searches are underway for possible missing persons, while a car was dragged into the sea,’ the fire service tweeted, adding that two people have been rescued.
Reinforcements from Naples have been sent to the scene.
Pascale has issued a red weather alert and urged residents to stay at home.
He wrote on Instagram: ‘Considering the severe bad weather and the damage that has occurred on our Island, as indicated by the Prefecture of Naples, we invite citizens NOT to leave their homes and therefore to avoid travel on the territory.’
Following a night of rainfall, the landslide happened at around 5am local time, with a torrent of mud, docks and debris crashing into houses and buildings.
Photographs showed how overflowing streams had carried away several now crumpled cars and uprooted trees and utility poles.
People trapped by mud inside the Hotel Terme Manzi have been left without electricity.
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