Floods Italy: At least 10 people lost their lives, several missing (16.09.2022)

 

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 Floodwaters triggered by heavy rainfall have swept through several towns in a hilly region of central-east Italy, leaving 10 people dead and several missing, according to state radio.

Dozens of survivors scrambled onto rooftops or up trees to await rescue early on Friday.

Torrential rain falling late on Thursday caused rivers and streams to overflow and inundate coastal towns around the regional capital of Ancona.

Rescuers are still searching for four others, including a child who was separated when a river burst its banks.

"It was like an earthquake." said local mayor Ludovico Caverni to RAI state radio.

“It wasn’t a water bomb, it was a tsunami,” Barbara Mayor Riccardo Pasqualini told Italian state radio, describing the sudden downpour on Thursday evening that devastated his town in the Marche region near the Adriatic Sea.

While firefighters (Vigili del Fuoco) said seven deaths were confirmed and three people were missing, RAI state radio said there were 10 confirmed deaths.

More than 180 firefighters (Vigili del Fuoco) are assisting in the rescue efforts, evacuating people who overnight were forced to climb up trees or get onto their roofs to escape the rising water.

Some of the rescuers used dinghy rafts and helicopters to reach trapped families, footage shows.

Firefighters (Vigili del Fuoco) said on Twitter that they had rescued dozens of people from cars, rooftops and clinging to trees. Helicopters were also deployed to pluck people to safety in the more remote towns.