Four dead, several injured as gale-force winds batter Italy

ROME - Four people died and several were injured as gale-force winds whipped through central and southern Italy, uprooting trees, ripping roofs off buildings, and causing a merchant ship to run aground, rescue services reported on Saturday.

In the central Lazio region whose capital is Rome, a collapsing wall killed two people and injured one, while a third person was crushed to death when a tree fell on his car, firefighters tweeted.