Sicily tornado: Marsala hit by terrifying winds as holiday hotspot left in 'absolute chaos'

Italy has been hit by powerful tornadoes with people in Sicily left fearing for their lives as cars overturned and at least nine people, including a schoolboy, were injured.

Severe weather hit the area this morning, with two tornadoes seen in the city of Marsala. They developed over the sea as a thunderstorm hit the area not too far from the coast.

The phenomenon left residents fearing they were going to die. One said: "I've never been afraid of dying the way I was a few hours ago. This thing grew four times bigger in just two minutes. I'm still shaking, but luckily everything's okay at my house. Not so in other places—you can hear ambulances everywhere. It's absolute chaos." Another said of the freak weather: "It's hell"

The schoolboy was injured when a tornado hit a school, with the site wrecked by the severe winds. Several cars were lifted in the air by a powerful vortex near a stadium.

The tornado has been described as one of the most powerful seen in Sicily in recent decades. Italian news website Ansa reports that four children and five adults presented to a local emergency room with cuts and abrasions.

One of the tornadoes that tore through the Sicilian city of Marsala can be seen here along with the destruction it caused.