Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Florence's Arno river embankment collapses


  • 6 hours ago
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  • From the sectionEurope
Media captionThe section of bank affected is very close to the historic Ponte Vecchio bridge
A section of the embankment of the River Arno in central Florence collapsed on Wednesday morning, sending part of the road and at least 20 parked cars into a newly formed ditch.
The collapse took place very close to the famous Ponte Vecchio, a medieval covered bridge over the Arno.
The hole is about 200m (650ft) in length and 7m (23ft) across.
Firefighters believe the chasm has been created by the failure of a large water pipe beneath the surface.
Vehicles are stuck in a chasm near Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy, 25 May 2016Image copyrightEPA
Image captionNo-one was hurt in the collapse, Florence's mayor said
A firefighter walks next to a chasm near Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy, 25 May 2016Image copyrightEPA
Image captionThe water supply has been cut off to part of the city centre
Florence's Mayor Dario Nardella tweeted (in Italian) that no-one had been harmed in the incident on Lungarno Torrigiani.
He appealed to motorists to remove their cars from the nearby area, and said the water supply to part of the city centre was cut off.
Regional paper Corriere Fiorentino reports that thousands of residents are without water.
The first sign of the problem came not long after midnight, when the police were called, the mayor told Italy's Ansa news agency.
The major collapse took place at 06:14 local time, Mr Nardella said.
Photo provided by Italian fire service shows cares in large ditch, some of them underwater, on embankment of River Arno in Florence (25 May 2016)Image copyrightVIGILI DEL FUOCO
Image captionItaly's fire service released photos of the collapse
Cars in a large ditch at the side of the River Arno in Florence (25 May 2016)Image copyrightVIGILI DEL FUOCO
Image captionThe incident took place on the Lungarno Torrigiani
Vehicles are stuck in a chasm near Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy, 25 May 2016Image copyrightEPA
Image captionFirefighters have cordoned off the area

Are you in the area? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your stories. Please do not endanger yourself.

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