Built over 100 years ago, the Camogli Cemetery is located along an area of rocky cliffs by the sea. Francesco Olivari, the mayor of Camogli, called the collapse an ‘unimaginable disaster’.
According to Giacomo Giampedrone, regional civil defense assessor, an estimated 200 coffins have been fallen, but only 10 have been recovered. Finding the rest “will depend on the sea for the next few days,” he added.
On Saturday, maintenance along the fragile coastline was abruptly halted when workers noticed cracks in the rock.
“We were working on part of the rocky coast – it was close to the area that fell today,” Olivari told CNN on Monday. There were some signs of tearing. We decided to close the cemetery. ‘
He said they have called officials from the Liguria Civil Protection Office to intervene and evaluate the situation. A team of geologists from the department is deploying drones to get a better picture of the damage and determine whether another landslide is imminent.
“This kind of collapse that happened today is very difficult to detect or predict,” said Olivari. “This area is subject to this kind of collapse – it’s very fragile.”
Giampedrone said the Genoa port authority blocked the coastal area below the cemetery on Monday evening to prevent the coffins from drifting into the sea.
On Tuesday, officials said that after investigating the site, they will continue to work to recover the coffins and corpses.