More than 200 coffins collapsed into the sea when the cliff collapsed near a cemetery on the Italian coast.
Workers at Camogli Cemetery, which was built more than 100 years ago off the coast of Genoa, first noticed a crack in the cemetery wall on Saturday during routine maintenance, according to Francesco Olivari, Camogli’s mayor.
“Some signs of cracks were seen. We decided to close the cemetery, “Olivari told CNN.
The 200 coffins were sent to sea when the cliff collapsed on Monday.
The crews have recovered 10 of the coffins. At least 190 were not found on Tuesday.
Finding the remaining coffins “will depend on the sea in the coming days,” according to regional civil protection adviser Giacomo Giampedrone.
As of Monday, Giampedrone said port authority has blocked the coastal area near the cemetery to prevent the coffins from floating out to sea.
“This kind of collapse that has happened today is very difficult to detect or predict,” Olivari said. “This area is subject to this kind of collapse; it’s very fragile.”
The Ligurian Civil Protection Office was called in to assess the situation and see if there was still a potential for landslides, as well as understand the actual extent of the damage.
The mayor called the incident an “unimaginable catastrophe.”