Ferocious winds brought down
centuries-old trees, some smashing homes and cars, while snow
cut off communities and rains triggered three methane gas
pipeline explosions and a huge blaze in central Italy.
At least one person was seriously injured after the extreme
weather triggered three explosions at a pipeline in the central
Italian town of Pineto, causing a huge blaze Friday.
Four people were admitted to hospital, among them a
10-year-old boy, who was admitted as a precaution.
His mother was reported in serious condition and underwent
surgery while four others were treated for shock.
Strong winds reportedly caused the pipeline to fail and the
escaping gas then blew up when it came into contact with an
electric cable that had broken away from a power pylon.
The current wave of bad weather killed three people in
separate incidents in different parts of Italy on Thursday.
Two central Italian motorways, the A24 and A25, were both
closed Friday due to heavy snow, although the authorities
managed to get the A24 open again later in the day.
But traffic on the A25 between Pratola and Celano in the
province of L'Aquila remained closed and some train lines were
blocked by fallen trees.
Parts of the southern regions of Molise and Basilicata were
paralysed by snow, with many schools closed and damage
caused by trees keeling over.
Firefighters said Friday that they had carried out around
2,000 interventions in Tuscany in the previous 24 hours linked
to damage caused by gales, with many more rescues expected.
Strong winds force ferry operators to suspend links
between Naples and Capri.
In Naples, the wind ripped the corrugated iron roof off a
home and it was only luck that stopped the flying sheets of
metal from injuring anyone.
Children were evacuated Friday from a kindergarten in the
historic Tuscan city of Pitigliano amid fears that the powerful
winds blowing harsh weather across the country would smash down
trees onto the school structure.
A popular tourist attraction in Florence, the Boboli
Gardens near Palazzo Pitti, wsa closed after strong winds ripped
through parts of the Medici gardens.
Ten families in the Tuscan town of Massa Carrara were
trapped inside a building when high winds knocked down huge
trees blocking their exits.
Rescue workers said their chain saws were not powerful
enough to cut through the massive trees and they were forced to
wait for experts with specialized tools.
Meanwhile, the situation was so bad in Abruzzo that come
politicians called for a formal state of a emergency to be
declared there as snow and winds cut electricity to hundreds of
thousands of homes.
By Friday afternoon, approximately 250,000 people in
Abruzzo were still without electricity knocked out Thursday by
heavy snowfall and storms.
Some of those homes were also without heat, said Mario
Mazzocca, Abruzzo's civil protection councillor.
An avalanche isolated a small community near Ascoli Piceno
in the nearby region of Marche, and an attempt to rescue nine
residents - including some elderly people - by helicopter failed
Friday because of high winds.
Rescue crews said they would try again on Saturday to
evacuate the community, which was without electricity after snow
crashed off Mount Sibilla.
Clearing area roads of the snowslide was expected to take
several more days.
Cars were damaged and drivers injured in storms around
Ciociaria south of Rome near Monte Cassino.
One young man was in serious condition after trees bashed
his car, and weather was blamed for several highway
accidents including one where a lorry driver had to be extracted
by rescue crews from the cab of his truck.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
