10 people killed after flash flood hits Raganello gorge in southern Italy’s Calabria
Featured image: Search and rescue operations after flash flood hits Raganello gorge in Calabria, Italy. Credit: Vigil del Fuoco
The number of people killed after heavy rain flooded the Raganello gorge on August 20, 2018, rose to 10 on August 21. 23 people were rescued and brought to safety, three were found alive today and another three still remain missing. There were up to 40 hikers in the gorge when the creek running through it rapidly rose and turned into a raging torrent.
The incident occurred near Civita in the Province of Cosenza, Calabria when the Raganello creek, which runs through a deep mountain gorge in the Pollino National Park, turned into a raging torrent after heavy rainfall upstream.
"The gorge filled up with water in a really short space of time and these people were catapulted out like bullets," Carlo Tansi, head of the civil protection department in Calabria, said. "They ended up some 3 km (1.8 miles) down the valley."
Torrente #Raganello loc. Civita di #Castrovillari (CS): 14 escursionisti salvati dai #vigilidelfuoco, recuperati alcuni corpi purtroppo senza vita. Impegnati nelle operazioni nuclei speleo-alpino-fluviali, soccorritori acquatici, sommozzatori ed elicottero #dragovf pic.twitter.com/k3xHRjia25
— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) August 20, 2018
#Castrovillari (CS), sono proseguite per tutta la notte le ricerche di dispersi sul torrente #Raganello, sono 5 al momento quelli segnalati. Il bilancio è di 10 persone decedute, mentre 14 sono state salvate dai #vigilidelfuoco. Nel video uno dei recuperi fatti ieri da #dragovf pic.twitter.com/8cVakvtMfP
— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) August 21, 2018
Un anno fa il miracolo dei #vigilidelfuoco a #ischia: il salvataggio di Mattias e Ciro dalle macerie della loro abitazione crollata per il #terremoto pic.twitter.com/ByEyEnGaA7
— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) August 21, 2018
60 #vigilidelfuoco impegnati nelle ricerche sul torrente #Raganello a #Civita(CS). In corso ricognizioni aeree #dragovf e perlustrazione a terra e nelle vasche d’acqua di specialisti speleo, sommozzatori e acquatici. Coordinamento da parte del comando avanzato insediato sul posto pic.twitter.com/cKx5NQ3I7b
— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) August 21, 2018
#Civita (CS) #21ago 13:30, rintracciate in altra zona le persone date per disperse. In assenza di altre segnalazioni, proseguono a scopo cautelativo le perlustrazioni da parte dei #vigilidelfuoco. Immagini dell’intervento sono disponibili su https://t.co/39yWOHsswT pic.twitter.com/BqnDfEMwgn
— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) August 21, 2018
According to ANSA news agency, three young people from Puglia missing after the flood were found alive today, but the search is on for another three missing hikers. The police said three mountain rescue reams from Umbria, Campania and Basilicata are taking part in the search.
ANSA reported Tuesday afternoon that the number of casualties rose to 10, after one of the injured died in the hospital.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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