As rescuers continued to search for five people still missing after a catastrophic landslide in Ischia, anger was growing on the southern Italian island on Sunday over the years of rampant illegal construction that contributed to the disaster.

Seven people, including a three-week-old baby and a pair of young siblings, are confirmed to have died in Saturday’s landslide, which was triggered by a violent storm that sent mud and debris from Monte Epomeo, a 789-metre (2,590ft) peak, crashing into the hamlet of Casamicciola Terme. One victim – 32-year-old Eleonora Sirabella – has been named. The others, who include the infant boy’s parents, a five-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother, a 31-year-old island resident and a Bulgarian tourist, have not yet been officially identified.

“Mud and water tend to fill every space,’’ Luca Cari, the spokesperson for Italian firefighters, told RAI state TV on Sunday. “Our teams are searching with hope, even if it is very difficult.”

The same hamlet was hit by a landslide in 2009, when a 14-year-old girl died, and damaged again by an earthquake in 2017.

Dozens of homes were destroyed, trees uprooted and cars swept into the sea in the latest tragedy.

Giorgia Meloni’s government, which came to power in October, announced a state of emergency on Sunday, adding it has set aside €2m (£1.7m), the first tranche of a fund that will be spent on repairing the damage.

But for many, the move is too little, too late.

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