Landslide in Italy leaves around a dozen trapped or missing

Around a dozen people were missing on Saturday and trapped in the mud after heavy rainfall caused a "heavy" landslide on the Italian island of Ischia.

A wave of rubble swept down the hill in the small town of Casamicciola Terme in the early morning hours, devoured at least one house and swept cars into the sea, said media reports and emergency services.

matteo pianededosi, the interior minister, said the situation was changing, but was "very serious" and complicated, with 12 missing and people who are locked under the mud.

But he denied earlier reports that eight people were killed.

"At the moment there are no confirmed deaths," said Mr. Piantedosi during a visit to the emergency services that helped to coordinate the rescue.

Matteo Salvini, the infrastructure minister and deputy prime minister, is said to have previously said that eight people were confirmed as dead

civil servants warned that the exact picture is unclear because bad weather conditions disabled the rescue efforts.

A family with a newborn who was previously reported as missing was later found in the hospital, Claudio Palomba, an official of the local authority in Naples, told the news agency Agi.

he added: "No corpses were recovered at the moment."

The heavy rain sent sludge avalanches through the streets, fell around trees and swept away cars so that they remained on the roadside and some of them smashed in the water, according to pictures that were published by emergency services and local media.

The fire brigade previously said that a house had been overwhelmed by the mud and two people were saved from a car washed into the sea.

Families that are caught in their houses

It was called that help would be sent from Naples, the next larger city, but the weather conditions made it difficult to access the island.

"The search for missing, evacuations and help for people will continue to end up," added the civil protection office in an update to Twitter.

"Due to the weather conditions, the rescue measures remain complex."

The local authorities have asked the residents of Ischia to stay inside so as not to hinder the rescue operation.

In the worst affected area of Casamicciola Terme, at least 30 families were enclosed in their houses without water and electricity, mud and rubbed the street, reported the Ansa news agency.

Giorgia Meloni, the country's Prime Minister, said she pursued the situation and expresses her thoughts with those affected.