Mudslide toll rises to 108, hundreds feared trapped

“Unfortunately, the number feared missing continues to rise,” said Piero Moscardini, coordinator of relief efforts in Sarno. “It has gone up from 210 to 230 to 240. It is impossible to come up with an exact figure,” he added.

During the night, a group of the 3,000 rescue workers on site continued digging in the dark with shovels and using their hands. Others listened for faint noises, voices, scratching or banging, in the hope of finding more survivors, especially after a 22-year-old photographer was hoisted alive from a well yesterday after three daysburied in mud and water.

Most of the sludge has been caked dry from three days of hot and sunny weather following the 48-hours of torrential rain that unleashed the devastating landslides making digging extremely difficult. A lack of surgical face masks to protect against the thick dust also slowed rescue efforts, as workers had difficulty breathing and seeing.

The nearly 2,000 left homeless spent the night at relatives homes or in schools.