Italy storm death toll rises overnight

Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-30 19:59:41|Editor: xuxin
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ROME, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people died, one was missing and many were injured as violent storms battered Italy from north to south, rescue services and local media reported early on Tuesday.

One volunteer firefighter died in action overnight near the northern city of Bolzano when he was crushed by a falling tree in high winds, the Civil Protection Department said in a statement Tuesday.

The body of a woman was recovered Tuesday in the northern town of Dimaro, where a local river broke its banks, while a kite-surfer died Monday after high winds hurled him onto rocks off the coast of the Emilia Romagna region along the Adriatic Sea, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

On Monday, falling trees killed five people and one woman died after being hit by flying debris.

Authorities are still searching for a man who went missing in high seas on Sunday off the coastal city of Catanzaro in the Calabria region on the tip of Italy's boot, while dozens of people, including rescuers, have been injured, ANSA said.

At least 5,800 firefighters have carried out 7,000 interventions overnight and into Tuesday, the national firefighter corps tweeted.

Several northern regions remained under red alert -- meaning possible loss of life and extensive damage due to critical weather events -- as floods and high winds of over 100 km/hr caused power black-outs, toppled trees and electrical cables, and interrupted road and train circulation.

Schools remained shut down for the second day in many cities across Italy, as rivers broke their banks in the northern mountain region of Alto Adige and in the Veneto region, where thousands of residents in mountain areas were evacuated due to floods and landslides while 70 percent of the city of Venice was flooded, RAI News 24 public broadcaster reported.

According to ANSA, at least 170 people have been stuck in a hotel near the Stelvio Pass in the mountains between Italy's northeastern Trentino region and Switzerland for the past three days due to record snowfall, making access impossible.

In the northwestern Liguria region where Genoa is located, surging seas partially destroyed a storm wall in the port of Rapallo and unmoored several ferries in Savona port, reported Repubblica newspaper.

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