Marsala mayor calls tornado-hit Sicilian city 'a war scene' as dozens are injured and a school is devastated

From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026 · last updated 11 October 2026.

A powerful tornado struck Marsala on Sicily's western coast on Friday morning, injuring dozens and causing widespread destruction across the city of 80,000. A 70-year-old man was taken to hospital with multiple fractures and is in a critical condition, while a couple required hospitalisation after their car was swept into a ravine. The storm then moved inland, affecting the neighbouring towns of Petrosino and Mazara del Vallo.

All 273 pupils at Marsala's Alcide De Gasperi school were evacuated safely after the tornado blew out windows and caused partial ceiling collapses above them.

Sicily's Civil Protection chief Salvatore Cocina said the scene was 'almost like an American tornado — nothing this violent has been seen in living memory.'

Scientists warned that unusually warm Mediterranean waters, driven by rising sea temperatures, are fuelling increasingly powerful storms across the region.