Italy Declares State of Emergency for Flood-Hit Areas

Italy's cabinet declared a state of emergency on Friday for the areas devastated by torrential downpours in Italy's Tuscany and Liguria regions, as the number of people killed by the floods rose to seven.

Rescue workers struggling to clear villages hit by mudslides and floodwater were still looking for seven people reported missing.

Firemen in Borgetto Vara found the body of a Romanian who had been visiting a friend when the floods hit overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Infrastructure Minister Altero Matteoli said the government was immediately releasing 65 million euros ($92 million) to help clean up the worst-hit areas, some of which still had no electricity, water, gas or communications.

Some people in affected areas slept in houses with no heating, others sought shelter in hotels, hostels or religious centers or slept in their cars, media reports said.

In Mulazzo in northern Tuscany, authorities evacuated 250 people from the historic center amid fears of another landslide.

The motorway from Genoa to Livorno, which was closed for four days after a landslide blocked a tunnel, reopened on Friday morning in both directions.

But in the Spezia region in Liguria, a hot-spot for tourists visiting the picturesque Five Lands province, the villages of Monterosso and Vernazza were still cut off from the surrounding area and food and water was in short supply.