The Italian fire brigade tweeted that a rainstorm that started at 0400 GMT caused flooding and landslides on the island.

“Searches are underway for any missing people” in Casamicciola Terme, one of the six small towns of Ischia, a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea about 30km from Naples.

The fire brigade did not provide details on the number of missing people and mentioned difficulties in reaching the island with motorboats and helicopters due to bad weather.

Gianni Capuano, an official of Italy’s Civil Protection, told Sky TG24 that a young child was among the missing, adding that families in danger were being evacuated.

A car was dragged into the sea and the two occupants were rescued, the fire brigade said on Twitter.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was in close contact with the Civil Protection minister Nello Musumeci, the Civil Protection Department and the Campania Region “to follow the evolution of the wave of bad weather that has hit Ischia”.

“The government expresses its closeness to the citizens and mayors of the municipalities on the island of Ischia and thanks the rescuers engaged in the search for the missing”, she said.