Rare waterspout captured on video sweeping across Italian coast

Footage shows massive tornado sucking up sea water as it passes close to shore

A rare waterspout has been captured on video sweeping across the Italian coast.

The footage shows a massive tornado sucking up seawater as it passes close to the shore at Pantelleria, an island southwest of Sicily.

Thunder and strong winds can be heard as the waterspout makes its way across the Mediterranean Sea. It was filmed by onlookers from the coast.

"I was in the water just before, and it passed in front of me while I was on the rocks," one Instagram user said. "I lost 10 years of my life."

No one was reported to have been hurt by the cyclone.

Waterspouts are usually weaker than their land counterparts and generally fail to pull water out of the sea. Strong ones, however, pose threats to boats and marine life.

In 1555, a waterspout sunk multiple boats in Malta and reportedly claimed hundreds of lives.