Three young people missing in Udine, overwhelmed by the flood of a river. Desperate hug before disappearing

Two girls and a boy swallowed by the waves of the Natisone. They had launched an SOS but the rescuers' attempts to recover were in vain. The searches continue

UDINE – They huddle together as tight as they can to try to resist the violent impact of the current which, in the end, carried them away. It is the last image of the three young people, a boy and two girls, overwhelmed by the flood of the Natisone river in Premariacco, in the province of Udine, caused by the bad weather of the last few hours. Since early afternoon today, the teams of firefighters and divers have been busy recovering them.

One of the three boys had managed to launch an SOS with his mobile phone, when the group had found refuge on a bank of the river, and the rescuers had already located them. However, the current managed to tear them away before the attempts to recover them were successful. The rescuers had tried to approach them with a crane and throw them a rope to bring them to safety, but there was time to hook them up. Once dragged away by the current, their traces were lost. The searches continue unabated in the stretch of river, with the helicopter of the Fire Brigade of the Venice flight department, river specialists, on site and divers.

❌ #Udine, from 1.30 pm #vigilidelfuoco engaged in Premariacco in the search for 3 boys overwhelmed by the flood of the Natisone river following heavy rains. A helicopter from the Venice flight department, river specialists and divers are on site [#31maggio 16 :00]

— Fire Brigade (@vigilidelfuoco) May 31, 2024

#Bad weather, since yesterday evening the #vigilidelfuoco of the #FriuliVeneziaGiulia have completed over 70 rescue operations for damage due to heavy rain: 50 of those carried out in the province of Udine alone. In the images, drainage in progress in Lignano [#31maggio 1.30pm] pic.twitter.com/pU0qyJnFC5

— Fire Brigade (@vigilidelfuoco) May 31, 2024