Death toll from Marche floods rises to 12.

The body of Mattia Luconi, the eight-year-old boy missing after deadly flash floods hit Italy's eastern Marche region last week, has been found in a field in Trecastelli in the Ancona province.

The flash floods had swept the little boy out of the arms of his mother Silvia Mereu when she abandoned their car due to the extreme flooding in the town of Castellone di Susa, some 13 km away.

The grim discovery of Mattia's badly decomposed body, submerged in mud, was made by a farmer near the river Nevola, eight days after the boy went missing.

Mattia was identified by police due to the blue t-shirt he had been wearing on the evening of 15 September, however a formal identification process using DNA is still required.

#Maltempo #Marche, ottavo giorno di lavoro per i #vigilidelfuoco impegnati con sommozzatori e squadre a terra per scandagliare il torrente Nevola nella zona di Castelleone (AN), alla ricerca dei due dispersi travolti dalla piena d’acqua #23settembre pic.twitter.com/cUTD5639yz— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) September 23, 2022

Mattia's mother, who saved herself by clinging to a tree after they were swept away in the floods, told reporters just hours before her son's body was found: "I know that finding him alive is impossible, but if nothing else I want a grave to cry on".

The discovery of Mattia's body comes three days after his shoes and backpack were found almost eight km away from where he disappeared in the floods, whose death toll now rises to 12.

The search continues meanwhile for the last missing person, 56-year-old Brunella Chiù, after she was swept into the Nevola together with her daughter and her son, who both survived by clinging to a tree for three hours.