Poor planning blamed for Italy floods

Italy’s prime minister sais today that improper construction in flood plains was partly to blame for devastating floods that have killed at least six people in the port city of Genoa.

Silvio Berlusconi said in a statement today: “It is evident that there was construction in areas where there shouldn’t have been”.

He said officials will look for ways to correct the problem so that there is no repeat of the floods.

Torrential rains lashing Genoa and Italy’s western coast on Friday triggered flash floods that broke the banks of at least two rivers.

Berlusconi said it was “terrible” to watch the flooding unfold.

At least nine others were killed in another round of flooding in late October in Liguria and neighbouring Tuscany.