Italian minister's husband missing in lake north of Rome

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Luigi Cavallari, 84, disappeared from a small boat on Lake Vico after saying he felt unwell following a swim; rescue teams searched through the night. The husband of Italian government minister Eugenia Roccella went missing in Lago di Vico, a volcanic crater lake about a 90-minute drive north of Rome, on Saturday afternoon. The couple had decided to spend the day at the lake near Fiorò, a locality in the municipality of Ronciglione. According to the initial reports, Luigi Cavallari had just boarded a small boat with his wife when he dived into the water to cool off from the extreme heat. After surfacing briefly, the retired architecture professor told those on board that he did not feel well, but the unmoored boat had drifted away and those aboard were unable to reach him in time. Roccella, who serves as Italy's minister for Equal Opportunities and Family, raised the alarm at around 17.30. Search Fire service divers from Viterbo began searching the lake, and specialist personnel reached the area by helicopter. Carabinieri diving teams were also deployed, along with an ambulance and medical staff from Rieti's emergency services, stationed on the shore ready to intervene. The search has proved challenging. The lake's waters reach a temperature of only eight degrees Celsius at a depth of 15 metres, and visibility is severely reduced by the silty lakebed and the dense vegetation growing along the banks. After an initial visual search produced no results, electronic scanning equipment was brought in. Authorities confirmed that the search would continue without interruption throughout the night. Solidarity Prime minister Giorgia Meloni - of whose right-ring Fratelli d'Italia party Roccella is a member - wrote on social media that her sympathy and that of all her cabinet colleagues went to the minister and her family. Senate president Ignazio La Russa and Lazio regional president Francesco Rocca also extended their solidarity to Roccella. The minister and her husband had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in March of this year, according to Italian media reports. At the time of writing, early on Sunday morning, the search was continuing.