Rescue crews in an Italian Alpine city are searching for any possible missing people along the path of a mountain stream that violently burst its banks, causing a mudslide
ByThe Associated Press
August 14, 2023, 4:01 AM
An excavator removes mud and debris following heavy storms, which caused the flooding of a stream in Bardonecchia, Northern Italy, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. (LaPresse via AP)
The Associated Press
ROME — Rescue crews in an Italian Alpine city were searching Monday for any possible missing people and clearing mud-caked roads after a mountain mudslide sent water and debris pouring into town, bursting riverbanks. Authorities said all residents were accounted for.
The streets of Bardonecchia, a city near Turin in the Val di Susa mountain valley, were coated in thick gray mud following the violent mudslides late Sunday. Witness video showed a huge wave of dirt and debris toppling a gate and residents running away as the muck rushed down a city street; other videos showed thick mud coursing through the river banks that pass through town.
Piedmont regional governor Alberto Cirio said there were no victims and that five people initially believed to be missing had been accounted for. In a Facebook post, Cirio said damage was significant and that he had already reached out to the national government for help.
Civil protection crews were en route to remove the debris from roads and to check the hydrological situation of the Frejus River, which was primarily involved, he wrote.
In a social media post, firefighters said crews had rescued six people overnight from an overturned camper.
Located at 1,300 meters (4,265 feet), Bardonecchia is a popular destination in the Italian Alps for both winter mountain sports and summer hiking, and several rivers, streams, creeks and tributaries feed into it including the Frejus, Melezet and Rochemolles. On Sunday, the city of 3,000 was celebrating its patron feast day, St. Hipolito, with daylong activities and games and planned fireworks at night, according to the city’s tourism agency.
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