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A powerful tornado tore through a city in Sicily — injuring 11 people, isome critically — tossing cars and trucks and ripping apart homes as 273 children sheltered inside a school in the twisters’ path.
Locals are saying they’re never seen anything like it and the town’s mayor called it “a war scene.”
The terrifying twister swept through Marsala, a city of around 80,000 in the province of Trapani on the western coast of Sicily, at 10 a.m. Friday
“It was almost like an American tornado, nothing this violent has been seen in living memory,” Salvatore Cocina, head of Sicily’s Civil Protection agency, told Reuters.
“Looking at the images the Air Force provided us this morning, we’re looking at a war scene: destroyed homes, cars thrown off the road,” Marsala Mayor Andreana Patti added, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The tornado hit Marsala, known for its wine, then moved inland through neighboring Petrosino and Mazara del Vallo.
A couple driving through Petrosino were hospitalized in serious condition after their vehicle was swept into a ravine.
A 70-year-old man was admitted to the trauma center at the Villa Sofia Hospital in Palermo in critical condition with multiple fractures, according to Corriere della Sera.
Marsala’s Alcide De Gasperi school principal Leonardo Gullotta reported that 273 children were inside the building when the tornado hit, and staff moved them into interior spaces as windows shattered and parts of the ceilings collapsed.
“I had warned the schools to be alert,” Gullotta told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
“Luckily, the teachers saw the danger, but we didn’t think we’d be so unlucky that it would pass right over our school.”
Six students were treated at the hospital, as per Corriere della Sera.
Since Italy experienced a heatwave this summer, the Civil Protection agency issued a warning in early September that the buildup of heat could cause extreme weather come fall.
❗️Danni diffusi a sud di Marsala (TP) a seguito del passaggio di un tornado questa mattina.
Danni diffusi e diversi feriti. Video di Panificio Maltese e Sebastiano Grasso. pic.twitter.com/1bPedr2Jg3
— Italia 24H Live 🔴 – Notizie dall’Italia (@Italia24HLive) October 9, 2026
“It once again highlights the issue of extreme weather events, a characteristic of recent years due to the climate crisis,” Cocina added.
Video of the aftermath shows cars and trucks on their sides, roofs blown off and power polls on the ground.
“We don’t know where we’ll sleep or who will pay for this damage,” a resident named Pietro, whose home was destroyed, told LaPresse.
Sicily’s regional president Renato Schifani announced plans to visit the area on Saturday as well as allocate emergency funds to rebuild the city.
