Rescue experts from Italy's civil protection agency have travelled to help their counterparts in Belgium where more than 20 people have been killed in the worst floods in living memory. The group of firefighters and divers - specialised in search and rescue in flooded areas - travelled from Venice last night on board an Italian military aircraft.

The team is part of an international civil protection mission undertaking rescue operations in flood-ravaged Belgium which had appealed to Italy for help. In addition to rescuers from Venice, Padua, Treviso and Vicenza, Italy sent jeeps, inflatable boats and a helicopter to Liège.