Torrential rains triggered a landslide in the southern Italian province of Caserta and forced residents to flee their homes, while rescuers today searched for a woman and her son who are missing and feared dead.

The bad weather hit San Felice a Cancello, a small town about 30 kilometers northeast of Naples, as well as surrounding municipalities yesterday, Tuesday afternoon.

The woman, in her 70s, and her son, in his 40s, were traveling in a three-wheeler that was swept away by the landslide. Rescuers discovered in the mud that the vehicle had turned into an amorphous mass of ironwork.

“We hope that they jumped and were saved … and that they might be alive somewhere, but from what the experts are telling me, there is not much hope,” Mayor Emilio Nuccio told Italian media.

The fire department announced via X that 10 search teams had been deployed to find the mother and son and that the landslide had forced residents to leave their homes.

Severe weather hit other parts of Italy yesterday with storms and hail in the Milan and Como regions, as well as the Tuscan coast.