Three dead as search continues after storm hits Italian island

Rescue workers have recovered the bodies of two women and a young girl who were swept away in heavy rain and high winds on the island of Ischia off the city of Naples, the local prefecture reported on Sunday.
The girl was between five and six years old.
The storm hit the island, which lies about 15 kilometres from the mainland, early on Saturday morning and caused heavy damage, especially in the coastal towns of Casamicciola and Lacco Ameno on the north of the island.
Rescue workers continued to search for nine missing people late on Sunday, with divers checking vehicles washed into the sea for bodies.
In Rome, Pope Francis offered prayers for the people on the island of some 60,000 residents, which is popular with tourists.
The prefectural authorities in Naples corrected earlier information on the number of injured, reporting four hurt, one of them seriously. An earlier report put the number of injured at 13.
The prefecture reported that 167 people had been taken to safety in a hotel. Some 150 fire officers and around 220 police officers were deployed to help with the rescue work.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called a meeting of ministers in Rome at which a year-long state of emergency was declared for the island with the aim of freeing up funds to deal with the disaster.
A special commissioner is to be provided with €2 million ($2 million) for reconstruction.
The region is seen as susceptible to landslides, and allegations were being made on Sunday that too little had been done in the recent past to guard against events of this kind.