Pictures: Rescuers search for missing after landslide on Italian island kills one

A caterpillar remove mud after heavy rainfall triggered landslides that collapsed buildings, in Casamicciola, on the southern Italian island of Ischia. Firefighters are working on rescue efforts as reinforcements are being sent from nearby Naples, but are encountering difficulties in reaching the island either by motorboat or helicopter due to the weather.

People walk through mud in a flooded road in Casamicciola. Italian rescuers were searching for a dozen missing people in Ischia on Sunday, as the government scheduled an emergency meeting.

A wave of mud and debris swept through the small town of Casamicciola Terme early Saturday morning, engulfing at least one house and sweeping cars down to the sea, local media and emergency services said.

Rescuers had recovered the body of a 31-year-old woman, according to Italian news agency AGI, with other local media reporting that 13 people had been injured in the incident.

Damaged buses lie amongst debris following a landslide in Ischia. About a dozen people were still unaccounted for by early Sunday morning, according to Claudio Palomba, prefect of Naples, of which the island is part.

Heavy rain sent torrents of mud through the streets of Casamicciola Terme, a settlement on the north of Ischia, a lush island near Capri that is thronged with tourists in summer.

Trees were upturned and cars left battered on the side of the road or in the water.

In the worst-affected area of the town, at least 30 families were trapped in their homes without water or electricity, with mud and debris blocking the road, ANSA news agency reported.

The rescue effort was hampered by rain and high winds, which also delayed ferries bringing reinforcements from the mainland.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tweeted her sympathy to those affected, saying she had called an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Sunday to discuss the disaster.