11 killed in surge of white-water creek in Italy

At least 11 people were killed in southern Italy on Monday when they were washed away over rocks by a raging white-water creek in a deep mountain gorge that swelled suddenly after heavy rain upstream, officials said.

The civil protection department said 23 people were rescued and about a dozen others were hospitalised after surviving the flash rush of water in the narrow gorge in the Calabria region. The 11th victim died in hospital.

At least five people were missing but the total could be more because not all had entered the gorge with official guides and registered. Rescue squads worked through the night with spotlights, and helicopters took off a first light to survey the area.

The nationalities of the dead and injured were not immediately known. Six of the victims were women and five were men. Most tourists and trekkers who visit the area, in the country’s deep south, are Italian.

Last week, a motorway bridge collapsed in the northern Italian port city of Genoa, killing 43 people