A 21-month-old boy who went missing on Tuesday in Tuscany has been found alive, the prefecture of Florence said on Wednesday.
Nicola Tanturli was found around three kilometres from home in good condition.
The toddler was found thanks to RAI journalist Giuseppe Di Tommaso, who heard moans and other noises coming from a deep gorge by a road while reporting on the story.
The boy, who had disappeared from his home in the town of Palazzuolo sul Senio, in the Mugello area, was taken to Florence's Meyer hospital with his mother via helicopter, Carabinieri police said.
The hospital said in a statement that his condition was not worrying but he would be kept under observation.
"The emotion was huge. I'm still shaken," said Di Tommaso.
"I was in the car with the crew when I asked to get out.
"I was on my own and I heard a voice at the bottom of a gorge.
"I thought I was imagining it but I started to shout - 'Nicola, Nicola'.
"The answer that came back was 'mamma, mamma'.
"I ran back up and stopped a Carabinieri car and they went and got the child". Carabinieri Commander Danilo Ciccarelli confirmed this story.
"We were stopped by a journalist who said he had heard a moan," he said.
"We got out of the car and I heard the moaning too, but I thought it could have been a deer.
"We decided to check it out although the terrain was very steep.
"I went down the gorge, calling out to the child continuously, but he didn't respond.
"Then I heard clearer noises and I thought an animal was going to come out.
"Instead Nicola popped out with his little head in the high grass and he said 'mamma' "It was a beautiful feeling.
"I checked if he was injured. He didn't have anything, just a little bump and a few scratches.
"Then he grabbed me by neck and I took him slowly back to the road, with the help of the journalist on the last section.
"It was wonderful to take him back to the arms of his mother".
A massive search had been staged by police, firefighters and volunteers that went on throughout the night in an area of thick vegetation where communication was made difficult by the incomplete coverage of the mobile network.
The boy's father thanked everyone involved in the search via Mediaset television.
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