UPDATE 1-At least eight dead in surge of white-water creek in Italy

At least eight people were killed in southern Italy on Monday when the level of a raging white-water creek in a deep mountain gorge swelled suddenly after heavy rainfall, officials said.

The national civil protection department said 18 people were rescued and six of those were injured in the flash rush of water in the Calabria region.

It was not clear how many people were missing because not all had entered the gorge with official guides and registered.

In some places, the Raganello creek, part of the Pollino National Park, is at the bottom of a narrow, one-kilometer-deep gorge in the mountain. Rescue teams used ropes to descend the sides of the mountain to reach the site.

Images on national television showed helmeted mountain rescue squads rushing from the nearest town, Civita, to reach the gorge, a popular tourist attraction in summer.

The most seriously injured were taken by helicopter to hospitals in the provincial capital, Cosenza.

All of the victims were believed to be Italian tourists.

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