ROME, April 9 (Reuters) - Italy’s government moved on Thursday to limit disruption from a major landslide that cut rail and motorway links along a key north-south transport corridor, declaring a state of emergency and pledging millions towards transport restoration efforts.
Visiting the area, Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said an initial 10 million euros ($11.68 million) would be earmarked for repairs, with the emergency declaration and funding to be formalised later on Thursday.
He pointed to the partial reopening of motorway traffic and the expected resumption of rail services on Friday as signs of progress, saying: “No one thought the roads would be opened so quickly, what we’ve done is miraculous.”
Tuesday’s landslide in Petacciato, a small town in the southeastern region of Molise, forced the temporary closure of the A14 motorway and the rail line linking Bologna in the north to Taranto on the southern Adriatic coast.
Triggered by heavy rains in an area with a history of hydrogeological instability, the landslide stretches for around two kilometres to the sea, and forced the evacuation of around 50 people.
The disruption forced thousands of motorists onto lengthy country-road detours, adding several hours to journeys, while coastal rail services were suspended and partially rerouted via Rome.
In an interview with daily Corriere della Sera, Civil Protection agency chief Fabio Ciciliano said the landslide appeared to have stabilised and ruled out a worst-case scenario of closures lasting weeks or months.
A main road will remain closed due to a collapsed bridge, whose reconstruction was expected to take six to seven months, potentially affecting the tourist season in the nearby coastal area, he added.
($1 = 0.8559 euros)
(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi, editing by Gavin Jones and Alvise Armellini; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
