Romanian Monica Balascuja Dies In Sicily Mudslide

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he feared the death toll from Italy’s worst mudslides in a decade could rise to 50.

Rivers of mud unleashed by heavy rains flooded parts of Messina on Friday, sweeping away cars and collapsing buildings. Hundreds were left homeless and about 80 injured.

Victims were swamped in their homes and cars when rivers of muddy water bearing trees and other debris gushed down mountainsides and swept into villages.

Rescue teams keep digging with bulldozers, shovels and bare hands through the mud. Some rescuers were aided by sniffer dogs as they searched for survivors. Firefighters were clearing away the mud from major roads.

A few hundred people were evacuated from unsafe homes and moved to hotels in Messina being used as rescue centers, Spoletini said. Some older residents did not want to abandon their homes and had to be persuaded to go.

The latest mudslide was Italy’s deadliest since 1998, when a rain-drenched mountain near Naples unleashed a torrent of mud that submerged villages and killed 150