Berlusconi will fly over the scene of the mudslides on Sunday after calling off a planned visit on Saturday, saying he did not want to get in the way of rescue efforts.

The prime minister has also said he fears the death toll from the mudslide may rise.

"There are some 20 dead and 30 missing but at the end there will be at least 50 deaths," Berlusconi was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.

Rescue workers and some 200 volunteers continued the search for survivors on Saturday, while helicopters flew in emergency food supplies.

The national government has declared a state of emergency after 250 millimeters (10 inches) of rain fell in the space of a few hours late on Thursday.

"Most of the dead and seriously injured were in two buildings that collapsed in mudslides," Sicily emergency services spokesman Giampiero Gliubizzi told AFP. He also said that several hundred people had suffered an injury of some kind.

Rescue services chief Guido Bertolaso blamed the spread of dangerously unregulated building for making the impact of the storm worse.

"One house was built on the banks of a river. So what should we expect? The water follows its course and if houses are not built where they should be, this is the result," he said.

Head of the Italian Fund for the Environment Mozzoni Crespi placed the blame on Sicilian politicians who, according to him, "don't think about the landscape because they want to help their friends who want to build."

ca/vj/AFP/Reuters/AP
Editor: Nigel Tandy