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Flowers layed Monday, September 11, 2000, on the spot where Paolo Gislimberti, 33, a volunteer firefighter on duty at Monza circuit for the F1 Grand Prix, was killed by flying debris following an accident during the first lap of the race. Along with the flowers his relatives left a small stone from the Dolomites, the mountains where Gislimberti and his family lived, with a note saying: "good bye Paolo your brothers are with you". (AP Photo/Angelo Gigli)

September 13, 2000 

SOVERATO, Italy, AP - For yet another frustrating day, rescue teams on Tuesday searched for bodies buried in a campground for the disabled that was inundated by a fatal flood over the weekend.

The work went on amid increasingly bitter recriminations and attempts to fix blame for the tragedy, which claimed at least 11 lives. Civil defense official Elena Scalfaro said Tuesday that at least three people were still missing.

Most of the victims of Sunday's deluge were from Catanzaro, where the mayor declared a day of mourning. A mass funeral was planned at the city's cathedral.

The toll of dead and missing has varied and officials had said they couldn't be sure how many were swept away or buried in the mud because the guest register lost. State television said the register was found Tuesday morning.

Italian newspapers dissected the accident in detail Tuesday, suggesting rescuers were slow to reach the scene on Sunday after mud and water from a rain-swollen stream rushed over Le Giare campground and that the campground had long been considered unsafe.

According to the reports, local officials had tried to close it several times over the past 20 years because it was in a floodplain. The first attempt to shut it down came in 1980. Then, despite warnings of danger from engineers, the national government signed a lease in 1990 with the campground operator.

In 1993, the Calabria regional government made another attempt to close the campground because it was unsafe, but nothing happened. Five years later, a Catanzaro court reviewed the case and warned yet again of the danger of floods. Again, nothing was done.

Premier Giuliano Amato himself has promised that responsibility for the disaster will be determined.

Five of the dead were disabled campers, and organizers of the annual camping trip said the heroism of the volunteers who accompanied them was the reason so many of the disabled survived.

The campground is near the town of Soverato in Calabria, at the tip of southern Italy.