Rome - Twelve people were last night reported dead and another four missing following a campsite flooding disaster near Soverato, Calabria, southern Italy, writes Paddy Agnew.
Even as rescue workers continued to search through the mud and debris prompted by freak flooding on Sunday, politicians and environmentalists alike were suggesting that the tragedy had been provoked more by a combination of deforestation, unregulated building and inadequate draining than by torrential rain.
At the centre of this latest Italian natural disaster is the question of how the "Le Giare" campsite obtained its operating licence given its location on a river bank just 150 yards from the sea.