Heavy rains and floods have hit the central Italian region of Marche, killing at least seven people, while three others are still missing, Italian media reports say.
Local authorities said they did not expect such a sudden "water bomb", as around 400 millimetres of rain fell within two to three hours late on Thursday, inundating the streets of towns in the Ancona and Pesaro-Urbino provinces.
Footage released by fire brigades showed operators navigating the streets of seaside town Sinigallia on rafts to rescue people and evacuate them, while others attempted to clear an underpass of debris.
Rescue services were still searching for survivors, authorities were quoted as saying.