Rescue operations underway following mountain accident and severe flooding in Italy

Emergency services in Italy have conducted multiple rescue operations following a mountain accident in Valdieri and severe weather in the Bari region.

In the Piedmont region, mountain rescue teams and helicopter services performed a complex operation on Corno Stella to save two French climbers. A 41-year-old man fell while climbing the De Cessole route, sustaining multiple traumas to his head and limbs. A 44-year-old woman was also treated for hypothermia. Despite heavy snow and poor visibility, rescuers managed to reach the pair and transport the man to a hospital in Cuneo.

Separately, intense rainfall caused significant flooding and landslides between Fasano and Monopoli in Puglia. Firefighters evacuated passengers from a train blocked by a landslide and rescued a French tourist family trapped in an isolated farmhouse. Rescuers also saved an elderly man swept away by currents. The storm caused road flooding and embankment failures in areas such as Lamalunga, though no injuries have been reported from the flooding.