The body of a five-year-old girl has been found under a bed in her family home after a landslide hit the island of Ischia in southern Italy yesterday.
The death toll in the tragedy has risen to three following the discovery of the body of a 31-year-old woman on Saturday and an elderly woman just before 2pm today, Naples prefect Claudio Palomba confirmed.
The little girl was sleeping in her pyjamas when her parents Valentina Castagna and Gianluca Monti, who are also missing, realised what was happening, according to Italian media.
The young victim's dad Gianluca is a taxi driver on the island, a popular holiday hotspot in Italy that attracts numerous visitors every year.
Rescuers are also looking for the couple's two other children, the girl's siblings, reports the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.
Rescuers said nine people, feared buried under mud and debris, are still missing in the port town of Casamicciola.
Among the missing people, there is also a newborn, who was in his cot, as well as his parents Giovanna Mazzella and Maurizio Scotto Di Minico, who own a clothing shop in the nearby town of Forio.
Salvatore Impagliazzo, the partner of Eleonora Sirabella, who was found dead yesterday, is also missing.
Another person rescuers are looking for is Nina Blagova, who is originally Bulgarian and was due to get her Italian citizenship.
Luca Cari, the spokesman for Italian firefighters, told RAI state TV: "Mud and water tend to fill every space.
"Our teams are searching with hope, even if it is very difficult.
"Our biggest hope is that people identified as missing have found refuge with relatives and friends and have not advised of their position."
The risk of landslides remains in the highest part of the town, near where heavy rainfall loosened a chunk of the mountainside, requiring search teams to enter by foot, he said.
Small bulldozers focused on clearing roads overnight to allow rescue vehicles to pass, while dive teams were brought in to check cars that had been pushed into the sea.
"We are continuing the search with our hearts broken, because among the missing are also minors," Giacomo Pascale, the mayor of the neighbouring town of Lacco Ameno, said.
Pope Francis expressed his closeness to the people of Ischia during the traditional Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square, saying: "I am praying for the victims, for those who are suffering and for those who are involved in the rescue."
The Naples prefect said 15 homes had been overwhelmed by the stream of mud.
In addition to the dead and missing, four people were injured and more than 160 were displaced.
The massive landslide before dawn on Saturday was triggered by heavy rainfall and sent a mass of mud and debris hurtling through the port of Casamicciola, collapsing buildings and sweeping vehicles into the sea.
One widely circulated video showed a man, covered with mud, clinging to a shutter, chest-deep in muddy water.
The island received 126 millimeters (nearly five inches) of rain in six hours, the heaviest rainfall in 20 years, according to officials.
Experts said the disaster was exacerbated by building in areas of high risk on the mountainous island, which is also in a seismically active zone.
Two people were killed in 2017 when a 4.0-magnitude earthquake struck Casamicciola and Lacco Ameno.
Geologist Riccardo Caniparoli said: "There is territory that cannot be occupied. You cannot change the use of a zone where there is water. The course of the water created this disaster.
"There are norms and laws that were not respected."
Vincenzo De Luca, president of the Campania region, where Ischia is located, said houses in areas at risk must be demolished, suggesting they had been built without necessary permits.
He said: "People need to understand that you cannot live in some areas. There is no such thing as the necessity (to build) illegally.
"Buildings in fragile zones should be demolished."
The Italian government declared a state of emergency for the island during an urgent Cabinet meeting Sunday, earmarking €2million (£1.72m) for the rescue and to restore public services.
Premier Giorgia Meloni said in a statement: "The government expresses its closeness to the citizens, mayors and towns of the island of Ischia, and thanks the rescue workers searching for the victims."
