Mudslides in Sicily kill 50, several buildings collapsed.

Italy's government declared a state of emergency on Friday as the number of people killed in mudslides in Sicily rose to 50. Hundreds of people have been left homeless after the mudslides, triggered by heavy rain, and which have caused the collapse of at least 10 buildings. "There are some 20 dead and 30 missing but at the end there will be at least 50 deaths," Berlusconi was quoted as saying late on Friday by the Italian news agency ANSA.

Map of Italy showing the location of Messina on Sicily where at least 14 people have died after torrential storms hit the northeast of the island.

Some 250 millimetres of rain fell on northeastern Sicily in the space of a few hours on Thursday, triggering mudslides that collapsed two buildings, carried off cars and cut off roads throughout the region.

An aerial view of a collapsed building in the village of Scaletta Zanclea near the Sicilian town of Messina.

Rescue workers and sniffer dogs searched Friday for survivors in the rubble of the two buildings and in numerous communities in the Messina region cut off by mudslides, but searches were halted overnight due to dangers to rescuers.

Mudslides included one that stretched over 3.5 kilometres, cutting off communications and sweeping away dozens of cars between Messina and several coastal towns south of the city in the northeast of the island. Witnesses said that in some towns such as Molino, south of Messina, the mud was up to seven metres deep.

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