Italy declares state of emergency after landslide

Naples, The Gulf Observer: Italian authorities have called a state of emergency following the deadly landslide on the southern island of Ischia which killed at least two people and left many more missing.

A first tranche of two million dollars relief funds was released at the end of an emergency cabinet meeting which declared the state of emergency, said Minister for Civil Protection Nello Musumeci on Sunday.Search teams pulled the body of a young girl from her family home as they dug through mud for a second day in the search for people still missing after an enormous landslide on the Italian resort island of Ischia.

The Naples prefect confirmed that the death toll in the tragedy had risen to two, following also the recovery of the body of a 31-year-old woman from the island a day before.

A wave of mud and debris hit the small town of Casamicciola Terme early on Saturday morning, engulfing at least one house and sweeping cars down to the sea, local media and emergency services said.More than 200 rescuers are still searching for a dozen missing people, while hundreds of volunteers, and others, up to their knees in mud, are busy cleaning the streets of the town.