Man missing after flash floods in northern Italy

A 58-year-old man was reported missing in Feletto, near Turin, on Thursday after the tractor he was driving was swept away by floodwater following hours of torrential rain, Ansa reported.

The vehicle was overturned by a stream of mud and water after river Orco burst its banks, the report said.

Search operations conducted by local fire authorities were set to continue on Friday. 

Violent storms battered large parts of northern Italy on Thursday, with Piedmont and Lombardy being among the worst hit regions.

Two bridges collapsed in Piedmont’s Val di Susa, blocking access to the village of Mattie, while fire authorities in Milan rescued several motorists who had remained stuck in their cars in flooded underpasses.

Rome mayor confirms plans to charge for access to Trevi Fountain

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri on Thursday said the introduction of a ticketing system for people visiting the city’s iconic Trevi Fountain was a “very concrete hypothesis,” according to Ansa. 

“The situation at the Trevi Fountain has become very hard to handle; the police always tell us that,” he said. 

“There is a buildup of people that makes it difficult to properly enjoy the monument,” Gualtieri added, warning of the need to “find the best technical solution to manage the flow of tourists” and protect the fountain. 

Gualtieri’s words came a day after Rome’s tourism councillor Alessandro Onorato said “he was in favour of looking at a new form of access, limited and timed, to the Trevi Fountain”. 

The Trevi monument was once again in the news earlier this week after two American tourists were fined and handed a temporary city ban for taking a late afternoon dip in the fountain.

76 people reach Lampedusa as migrant landings continue

Some 76 migrants, including 12 minors, reached the island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, on board a 12-metre-long boat on Thursday, Ansa reported.

The migrants, who were reported as being of Egyptian, Ethiopian and Syrian nationality, said they had set off from Sabratha, on the Libyan coast, after paying €6,000 for the crossing each.

Thursday’s landing came as authorities continued searching for 21 people who were reported missing after their boat capsized in severe weather on Wednesday. 

Despite an overall decrease in landings – 43,061 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year compared to 115,177 over the same period in 2023 –  Italy has seen multiple migrant arrivals in recent weeks.

In 2023, over 3,000 migrants were reported missing after attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing from North Africa, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).