Amantea, Italy - Thousands of concerned Italians demonstrated Saturday in the southern Italian town of Amantea, saying they would not allow their home to become Italy's trash dump.

The demonstrations seem to have been prompted by concerns over a the unknown contents of a ship recently sunk off the coast, perhaps by mafia members. Bad weather has prevented a government ship from reconnoitering to find out about the ship's contents.

However, they also complained of an ongoing problem with hazardous trash. Demonstrators demanded that the government make the issue a priority and find out "the truth about the poison trash."

The residents are concerned the sunk ship could contain poisonous, or even radioactive, refuse. (dpa)