:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/3JKPA4DH3VF4HFUPASPLVV5Q7I.jpg "Search for possible victims after a mudslide that muddied the streets of an Italian alpine town")
ROME (AP) — Rescuers in an Italian alpine town were searching Monday for possible missing persons along the course of a mountain stream that violently overflowed its banks after heavy rains, triggering a mudslide.
The streets of Bardonecchia, a town near Turin in the Val di Susa mountain valley, were covered in thick gray mud after a sudden mudslide on Sunday night. Video recorded by witnesses showed a huge wave of dirt and debris smashing down a door as residents fled and mud spread across a street. Others showed thick mud running down the banks of the river that runs through the town.
Fire spokesman Luca Cari told Sky TV24 that rescuers had no reports of missing persons, but were still searching homes and cars near the area of the landslide. Crews had rescued six people overnight from an overturned camping van.
At 4,265 feet (1,300 meters) high, Bardonecchia is a popular destination in the Italian Alps for winter mountain sports, as well as summer mountaineering. Several streams, torrents and tributaries pass through it, such as the Frejus, the Melezet and the Rochemolles. The town of 3,000 celebrated the day of its patron saint, Saint Hippolytus, on Sunday with activities and games during the day and a fireworks display scheduled for the evening, according to the local tourism agency.