A violent, prolonged downpour on Friday flooded neighbourhoods across the city of Agrigento in Sicily, sent mud and debris onto roads leading out of town, and swallowed a car when the road gave way in Piazza Marconi.

Agrigento was hit by a violent and prolonged storm on Friday, with intense rainfall overwhelming the city’s drainage and turning several streets into fast-flowing water within minutes. The worst incident struck the city centre, near the church of San Calogero and close to the railway station. There, the road surface in Piazza Marconi gave way under the volume of water, opening a deep sinkhole into which a car plunged nose-first, leaving its rear wheels raised clear of the ground. Carabinieri were quickly on the scene to secure the area; no injuries were reported from the incident itself.

Elsewhere in the city, one person was taken to hospital after a car stranded by floodwater along the Passeggiata Archeologica, near the Valley of the Temples, was struck from behind by a second vehicle. Traffic was brought to a standstill in the Sant’Anna district after two vehicles were submerged, while mud and debris slid down from around Villa Bonfiglio onto Via Francesco Crispi, spreading onto pavements and into a number of homes.

Flooding and a landslide on the road out of town

Flooding was also reported across several outlying districts, including Villaseta, Villaggio Mosè and San Leone, where mounting pressure in the drainage system blew the covers off several manholes along Viale Emporium, leaving the road impassable and forcing drivers to turn back. On the SS640 state road towards Favara and Aragona, mud and debris came down onto the carriageway, causing heavy delays. The city’s out-of-hours medical clinic on Via Giovanni XXIII was also flooded and had to be temporarily relocated to San Leone.

Firefighters, municipal police and civil protection volunteers carried out a lengthy series of interventions through the evening to clear blocked drains, secure at-risk stretches of road and assist residents. The disruption also forced organisers to postpone the planned inauguration of a new museum trail at the mouth of the Akragas river in Maddalusa, amid concerns over the risk of the river bursting its banks.

The city council had issued a yellow weather alert covering the area in the days beforehand, urging residents to avoid unnecessary travel and to stay away from riverbanks, bridges and basement-level properties during the worst of the rain.