More than 1000 people evacuated after cliff crumbles in landslide at Sicilian town

Footage taken by the Local Team video agency showed a narrow vertical section of cliff falling away at Niscemi, Sicily, after the storm. Photo / Social media, YouTube

More than 1000 people were evacuated in Sicily after a 4km section of cliff crumbled during a storm, leaving houses perched perilously on the edge, authorities said today.

Land was continuing to give way due to rain that has soaked the area in recent days, said the mayor of the southern hill town of Niscemi.

No deaths or injuries have been reported following the landslide, which took place yesterday.

“The situation continues to worsen because further collapses have been recorded,” Mayor Massimiliano Conti told local news.

Footage taken today by the Local Team video agency showed a narrow vertical section of cliff falling away, causing a building that had already been ripped apart to further collapse.

The front end of a car was visible next to it, its two tyres suspended in the air over the edge of the cliff.

The landslide covered the road below leading into town.

Conti said local authorities were working with police, fire and civil protection units to assess the next steps, including the resumption of school, which was cancelled.

“The situation is dire,” said the mayor.

Italy’s civil protection unit said all residents in a 4km radius of the landslide had been evacuated.

Niscemi, which has a population of more than 27,000 people, is located about 28km inland from the southern coastal city of Gela.

Coastal areas of Sicily were hit last week by Storm Harry, damaging seaside roads and residences.

Today the region’s president, Renato Schifani, estimated the cost of the damage, including that from the Niscemi landslide, at more than €1.5 billion.

Italy has declared a state of emergency for the southern regions of Sicily, Sardinia and Calabria .

During a Cabinet meeting, the Government decided to allocate €100 million for the “first urgent interventions”, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on social media.

-Agence France-Presse