Three People Dead, Several Missing after Heavy Rains, Flooding in Tuscany

Italian firefighters work in flooded streets in the Tuscany region, Italy, November 3, 2023. Several people died and went missing in the central region of Tuscany as storm Ciaran battered western Europe. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
Italian firefighters work in flooded streets in the Tuscany region, Italy, November 3, 2023. Several people died and went missing in the central region of Tuscany as storm Ciaran battered western Europe. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
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Three People Dead, Several Missing after Heavy Rains, Flooding in Tuscany

Italian firefighters work in flooded streets in the Tuscany region, Italy, November 3, 2023. Several people died and went missing in the central region of Tuscany as storm Ciaran battered western Europe. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
Italian firefighters work in flooded streets in the Tuscany region, Italy, November 3, 2023. Several people died and went missing in the central region of Tuscany as storm Ciaran battered western Europe. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS

At least three people have died and several were missing after rivers overflowed due to heavy rains in central Italy, local authorities said on Friday, as Storm Ciaran continued to lash western Europe.
A bridge collapsed near the city of Pistoia, killing two people. Another person died in the town of Rosignano.
"Over 200 millimeters of rain have fallen in three hours," Luigi D'Angelo, who is leading the Civil Protection rescue efforts, told Sky TG24 television.
The governor of Tuscany said there were challenging issues around two large rivers in the area, the Bisenzio, north of Florence, and the Ombrone, in the southern part of the region.
"The situation is problematic, the Arno river is expected to reach a peak around midday in Florence, but there are no particular worries about this if it stops raining," Governor Eugenio Giani said in an interview with RAI's Radio Anch'io.
Patients from three separate hospitals had to be moved to other facilities and many buildings were seriously damaged, Giani added.
The defense ministry was supporting rescue efforts sending helicopters, trucks and water pumps to the flood-hit areas, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in a statement.
Italy's Civil Protection agency on Thursday issued a warning of heavy rains and strong winds in central and southern Italy, with a high alert "red code" for Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia in the north of the country, and a medium alert "orange code" for nine other regions.
Another person went missing in the Veneto region, the local governor was quoted as saying by Sky TG24.
Storm Ciaran, which follows on the heels of Storm Babet two weeks ago, was driven by a powerful jet stream that swept in from the Atlantic, unleashing heavy rain and furious winds that have already caused heavy flooding in Northern Ireland, parts of Britain, Belgium and France.



Dozens Arrested as Investigation That Saw Istanbul’s Mayor Jailed Deepens

21 April 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: A student holds a Turkish flag during a high school students protest at Kugulu Park to protest the political process that started with the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
21 April 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: A student holds a Turkish flag during a high school students protest at Kugulu Park to protest the political process that started with the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
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Dozens Arrested as Investigation That Saw Istanbul’s Mayor Jailed Deepens

21 April 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: A student holds a Turkish flag during a high school students protest at Kugulu Park to protest the political process that started with the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
21 April 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: A student holds a Turkish flag during a high school students protest at Kugulu Park to protest the political process that started with the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. (SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)

Police in Istanbul detained 47 people Saturday in dawn raids linked to a corruption investigation that saw the city’s mayor imprisoned last month, leading to Türkiye's largest protests in more than a decade.

Among those arrested in Istanbul, the neighboring province of Tekirdag and the capital, Ankara, were senior officials from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, local media reported.

The March 19 detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule, saw hundreds of thousands of people flood the streets of Turkish cities to protest what many consider a politically motivated case. The government insists Türkiye's judicial system is independent.

In a statement, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said simultaneous operations were conducted against 53 suspects, six of whom remain at large. Searches were continuing at homes and workplaces, it added.

Demonstrations against Imamoglu’s jailing and wider democratic backsliding saw more than 2,000 people arrested for taking part in banned protests last month. Many of them were students but journalists and trades unionists were also among the detainees.

Imamoglu, who also faces terror-related charges in a parallel investigation launched last month, was nominated the presidential candidate for his Republican People’s Party, or CHP, while in prison. Elections are due in 2028 but could come earlier.

The cases against him, which include several others that pre-date the March investigations, could see him banned from politics.

The CHP-supporting Cumhuriyet newspaper reported that Saturday’s arrests included the deputy secretary general of Istanbul municipality, Imamoglu’s private secretary and the head of the city’s water company. Gokhan Gunaydin, a senior CHP lawmaker, said the municipality was being “effectively rendered inoperable” by the arrests.

The wife of Imamoglu’s adviser was also detained Saturday. The adviser was among some 100 arrested in March’s wave of arrests and remains in prison.

Demonstrations against what the opposition calls the “March 19 coup” are continuing, although on a smaller scale. Ankara governor’s office said Saturday that 30 people were arrested at a protest the previous evening. The CHP was due to hold a rally later Saturday in the Mediterranean city of Mersin.

The party won a swath of major cities in 2019 local elections, making further gains in last year’s polls. In Istanbul, Imamoglu’s victory ended 25 years of control for Erdogan’s party and its predecessors.