Flash flood in Italy leaves at least 8 hikers dead

Heavy rain flooded a gorge filled with hikers in the southern region of Calabria, killing at least eight people, Italy's civil protection agency said.

It said the dead included four men and four women.

Local officials said 23 people were rescued from the flash flood in the Raganello Gorge. They included a 10-year-old boy treated for hypothermia who was among seven that the civil protection agency said were hospitalized.

It was unclear how many people were missing but there were at least 36 hikers in two organized groups inside the 12-kilometre-long gorge, a popular aquatic trekking spot. 

Aquatic trekkers traverse challenging terrain that includes waterways, sometimes hiking and sometimes swimming or wading through water. In some cases climbing gear and wet suits are used.

TV images showed rescuers scaling down the side of a steep rock face to bring hikers to safety.

Guides are not required, making it impossible to know how many people were on their own inside the canyon.

Gorge just a few metres wide

At its most narrow point, it is just meters wide and with walls varying from 400 metres to 700 metres in height.

Luca Franzese, of the alpine rescue squad in Calabria, said the flood waters were about 2½ metres deep.

"The wave of flooding of the Raganello stream happens often in the winter, but it has never happened in the summer, when the stream is very popular among tourists," Franzese told the news agency ANSA.

The gorge on the eastern side of the Pollino National Park boasts aquatic trekking along the stream that cuts through the massive rock, where hikers pass by water falls, water tubs and natural slipways, according to a website.

The 12-kilometre-long gorge is broken down into three sections, the upper, mid and lower canyons, with hikes averaging between 2 ½ and 3½ hours. Guides include spelunkers and rescue instructors.