Road collapses along Florence's Arno river. Twenty cars swallowed up by the mud

It was about 6:15 am when the people living in the neighborhood heard a loud roar and saw the parked cars along the river sinking in the mud

The area where the road collapsed (Gianluca Moggi/New Press Photo)

The area where the road collapsed (Gianluca Moggi/New Press Photo)

Florence - May 25, 2016 - This morning, a long and deep chasm opened up in Lungarno Torrigiani, just in front of the Uffizi Gallery, in the heart of the city center. It was about 6:15 am when the people living in the neighborhood heard a loud roar and saw the parked cars along the river sinking in the mud.

A stretch of road along the river Arno collapsed, swallowing up at least twenty vehicles. Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident as there was no one in the vicinity at the time. The breakage of a main water pipe has been reported as the main cause for the landslide. Florence Prosecutor’s office has immediately opened an investigation to clarify the cause of the incident.

The area involved is just a few steps away from Ponte Vecchio, on which tourists from all over the world come to admire the city’s beauty every day. Residents say that they first noticed the water leakages along Lungarno Torrigiani on Tuesday, May 24, around midnight. A passerby filmed the scene in the dark.

There have been fears of a flood like the one in 1968, when Florence was brought to its knees by the Arno’s fury. But this time it was not the river’s fault, but that of a large underground pipe spilling water everywhere. The outflow went on and on until 6:15 am, when around 200 meters of riverside road collapsed, opening up the at-least-3-meter-deep chasm. From their windows people living in the area are said to have seen cars immersed in the muddy water. Nothing happened to the parapet protecting the street from the river, but the pavement along the area crumbled opening the chasm.

Firemen and urban police immediately intervened at the scene, and made the area safe within a couple of hours. Disruptions in the water service occurred in many parts of the city. Water supply was interrupted in the center while other areas experienced a decrease in the water pressure, like Campo di Marte.

Along the riversides electricity and gas were also disrupted. People living in Lungarno Torrigiani were asked to leave their homes because of the lack of water, light and gas. Around midday law enforcement agencies started rescuing the cars trapped by the chasm. Most of them were still working, others were not. Owners were called one by one to pick up their vehicles. One lady managed to turn on her car. It presented some damage on one side but at least the engine worked. Others weren’t so lucky.

Almost all the cars that fell in the middle of the chasm could not start because they were destroyed.

NO SCHOOL - Several schools have been closed as a consequence of the landslide in Lungarno Torrigiani. Among those there are: Benedetto da Rovezzano, Mazzarello and San Pier Martire, the comprehensive institute in Oltrarno (Agnesi, Machiavelli, Nencioni and Torrigiani). Civil protection guaranteed drinking water supply to all the other institutes hit by service disruption.

The local water supply firm Publiacqua affirmed that they intervened during the night but apparently all the precautions they took were not enough to prevent the early morning collapse. Water service disruptions hit in the morning also the near town of Prato, but everything returned to normal by the early afternoon. On social media the Florentine singer Piero Pelù talked about hydrogeological disturbance in the heart of Florence. «It’s not a hydrogeological disturbance but a break of a water pipe line», the City Council replied.

And that is also what the mayor of Florence Dario Nardella affirmed. The debate saw the participation of the famous art critic Vittorio Sgarbi: “Florence administration preferred to build a new courthouse than taking care of the city center". Firemen intervened on the spot with a mobile crane and operation room. A unit of scuba divers have been also monitoring from the river Arno the landslide progress. The incident has hit Florence at its heart, now everybody is looking forward to the wound healing.

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