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Deadly rivers of mud flow through southern Italy
May 6, 1998
Web posted at: 1:44 p.m. EDT (1744 GMT)In this story:
NAPLES, Italy (CNN) -- Flooding and landslides in southern Italy caused by two days of torrential rains have killed at least 17 people and left about 1,000 homeless from Naples to Salerno, officials said Wednesday.
Thousands of people were evacuated to safer areas.
Backed by military helicopters, thousands of firefighters and emergency workers searched for 50 more people feared buried under rivers of thick, fast-flowing mud, officials said.
The mud burst into low-lying towns and villages, tearing apart houses and bridges, swallowing cars and sending panicked residents fleeing.
Streets turned into rivers in southern Italy 1.9 MB/19 sec./320x240
612 K/19 sec./160x120
QuickTime movieWitnesses say the mudslides in some areas were so rapid it was almost impossible to get out of the way.
Many residents spent Tuesday night on rooftops or on the highest floors of apartment buildings to avoid the mudslides.
Authorities fear people may be buried under the mudslides Hardest-hit towns near tourist area
The hardest-hit towns were Sarno, Quindici and Siano, all south of Naples in Salerno and Avellino provinces.
In Sarno, a town of 2,000, mud and rubble burst through the first floor of the Villa Malta hospital, sweeping away part of a staircase. Relief workers were searching for several missing doctors and patients, Italian news reports said.
The hospital's estimated 200 other patients were transferred elsewhere, the reports said.
Piles of mud and boulders covered railroad tracks and roads in the area, bringing transportation to a near standstill.
Bulldozers plow through debris in Sarno A train line was cut in the area just north of Salerno, where the coastline sweeps westward on to the Amalfi coast, one of southern Italy's most popular tourist destinations.
The rain had stopped in most of southern Italy by 1400 GMT (10 a.m. EDT) and better weather was expected on Wednesday night and Thursday.
Italian leaders out of the country
Prime Minister Romano Prodi, on an official visit to the United States, sent a message of condolence to the families of the victims.
At a White House welcoming ceremony for Prodi, President Clinton said he had dispatched U.S. troops from Aviano Air Base in Italy to help rescue efforts.
Regions south of Naples were hardest hit President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, on a state visit to Sweden, telephoned Prodi's deputy Walter Veltroni for a briefing on the situation.
Some experts interviewed on Italian television blamed mass construction, poor infrastructure and lack of planning by local authorities for the disaster.
"The region is just not properly prepared for disasters like this. We don't even have any maps to show which are the areas most at risk," said Fernando di Mezza of the environmental movement Legambiente Campania.
Rome Bureau Chief Gayle Young, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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