At the last minute, workers managed to evacuate workers in a city cemetery in Italy, before the entire slope on which it was located collapsed after a landslide and disappeared into the sea.
Dozens of coffins ended up in the Mediterranean Sea and many more are believed to have been crushed by the rubble when the landslide struck around 15:00 local time yesterday afternoon in the city of Camoli, a tourist resort northwest of Genoa. A huge part of the slope ended up in the water, about 50 meters below, while two chapels were destroyed.
An operation is underway to locate as many coffins as possible as relatives of those buried in the cemetery are anxiously awaiting to see if the bodies of their loved ones were among those swallowed by the landslide.
Frana a Camogli (GE), when the field undergoes a structure of the border: no coinvolta persons, squad and #sommozzatori of the #vigilidelfuoco lavoro for technical verification, safety message and recovery of fine fines in sea # 22febbraio pic.twitter.com/fEbPHQOC8Y
- Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) February 22, 2021
According to local media, the landslide was caused by erosion of the coastline after the recent storms in the Ligurian region, known as the Italian Riviera. Camoli residents said they heard the landslide from their homes and some ran to the cemetery when they heard the deafening noise of the slope falling into the sea.
The cemetery was built a century and a half ago and for some time now work has been done to strengthen the slope. But according to Mayor - and geologist by profession - Francesco Olivar, it was difficult to predict the landslide, while as he pointed out most of the coffins may have been buried under tons of soil and other sediments. Fortunately, at the time of the landslide, the cemetery was closed to the public - as it is every Monday - and there were no reports of injuries. Efforts to locate the coffins - including by drone - continued into the morning.
Source: iEfimerida.gr