Crews search for possible missing after a mudslide in the Italian Alps coats city streets in muck

Rescue crews in an Italian Alpine city are searching for any possible missing people along the path of a mountain stream that violently burst its banks, causing a mudslide

Rescue crews in an Italian Alpine city were searching Monday for any possible missing people along the path of a mountain stream that violently burst its banks after heavy rainfall, causing a mudlide.

The streets of Bardonecchia, a city near Turin in the Val di Susa mountain valley, were coated in thick gray mud following the violent mudslide late Sunday. Witness video showed a huge wave of dirt and debris toppling a gate and residents running away as the muck rushed down a city street; other videos showed thick mud coursing through the river banks that pass through town.

Firefighter spokesman Luca Cari told Sky TV24 that rescue crews had no reports of missing people but were nevertheless conducting searches of homes and cars that were along the mudslide's route. He said crews had rescued six people overnight from an overturned camper.

Located at 1,300 meters (4,265 feet), Bardonecchia is a popular destination in the Italian Alps for both winter mountain sports and summer hiking, and several streams, creeks and tributaries feed into it including the Frejus, Melezet and Rochemolles. On Sunday, the city of 3,000 was celebrating its patron feast day, St. Hipolito, with daylong activities and games and planned fireworks at night, according to the city’s tourism agency.