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Genoa bridge collapse: at least 20 killed, Italian official says Genoa bridge collapse: at least 20 killed, Italian official says
(about 1 hour later)
At least 20 people have died after a motorway bridge collapsed in the northern Italian city of Genoa. Rescuers were continuing to work in extreme conditions after a bridge collapsed in the northern Italian city of Genoa, killing at least 20 people and injuring 16.
An 80-metre section of the Morandi Bridge on the A10 motorway came down in an industrial area of the port city during a sudden and violent storm at about 11.30am (0930 GMT). In what witnesses described as an “apocalypse”, an 80-metre section of the Morandi Bridge on the A10 motorway came down in an industrial area of the port city during a sudden and violent storm at about 11.30am on Tuesday.
The death toll was given by the head of Italy’s civil protection agency, Angelo Borrelli, who told reporters at a news conference that 13 people were injured. He said all the victims appeared to all have been in vehicles that plunged from the bridge. Earlier, an Italian transport official, Edoardo Rixi, had said that 22 people had died. The death toll was given on Tuesday evening by Luigi D’Angelo, head of the emergency unit at the civil protection service. At least 16 people were injured, five seriously, he added.
About 20 vehicles, including cars and trucks, were on the affected section of the bridge when it fell 100 metres, mostly on to rail tracks, the fire service said. “These are the confirmed figures we have right now, but unfortunately the number is likely to rise,” he told a press conference in Genoa. D’Angelo said the cause of the collapse should be known “within the next few hours”.
Rescue workers compared the conditions to the aftermath of an earthquake, as sniffer dogs searched through the rubble and heavy equipment was moved in to lift pieces of the bridge. About 30 vehicles, including cars and trucks, were on the affected section of the bridge when it fell 100 metres, mostly on to rail tracks, the fire service said.
Witnesses described an apocalyptic scene. Alberto Lercari, a bus driver, told Corriere della Sera: “I saw people running towards me, barefoot and terrified. I heard a roar. People ran away coming towards me. It was horrible.” Rescuers compared the conditions to the aftermath of an earthquake, as sniffer dogs searched through the rubble and heavy equipment was moved in to lift pieces of the bridge. Heavy rain also made conditions more challenging.
Aerial footage showed that the falling structure narrowly missed houses and other buildings as the bridge collapsed over a river.
The disaster occurred on a major artery to the Italian Riviera and to France’s southern coast. Traffic would have been heavier than usual as many Italians were travelling to beaches or mountains on the eve of a public holiday, Ferragosto.
“The scene is apocalyptic, like a bomb had hit the bridge,” Matteo Pucciarelli, a journalist for La Repubblica who lives in Genoa, told the Guardian. “There are about 200 rescuers working continuously. People are in shock, it’s a very important arterial road that connects Lombardy and Piedmont with Liguria.”
Alberto Lercari, a bus driver, earlier told Corriere della Sera: “I saw people running towards me, barefoot and terrified. I heard a roar. People ran away coming towards me. It was horrible.”
Davide Ricci, who had been travelling south, told La Stampa: “The debris landed about 20 metres from my car. First the central pillar crumbled and then everything else came down.”Davide Ricci, who had been travelling south, told La Stampa: “The debris landed about 20 metres from my car. First the central pillar crumbled and then everything else came down.”
The transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, said in a tweet that he was “following with great apprehension what seems like an immense tragedy”. Matteo Pierami drove across the bridge with his wife and child, aged two months, almost an hour before it collapsed. The family had been making their way from Lucca, in Tuscany, to the Ligurian town of Imperia. A couple of friends and their baby had been travelling in another car.
Genoa is located between the sea and the mountains of north-west Italy. Its rugged terrain means motorways run through the city and the surrounding area on long viaducts and through tunnels. “I’ve had some time to calm down and am now trying to understand what happened, but my wife and our friends are very shocked,” Pierami said.
The disaster occurred on a major artery to the Italian riviera and to France’s southern coast. Traffic would have been heavier than usual as many Italians were travelling to beaches or mountains on the eve of a public holiday, Ferragosto. “We didn’t hear or see anything, but after passing the bridge stopped at an Autogrill [roadside restaurant], and started to receive calls from family.”
The Morandi Bridge, which was inaugurated in 1967, is 90 metres high and just over 1km long. Restructuring work on the bridge was carried out in 2016. The highway operator said work to shore up the foundation of the bridge was being carried out at the time of the collapse, and that the structure was constantly monitored. Pierami, an engineer, had driven over the bridge many times before. “There was lots of traffic; there is always a lot of traffic there.”
Andrea Montefusco, an engineering expert at Luiss University in Rome, said: “It’s difficult to make any serious hypothesis right now. Some people are saying maybe lightning could have struck a cable on the bridge, but at this moment it’s too early to say anything about the cause. The Italian transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, immediately blamed the collapse on poor infrastructure maintenance and pledged that those responsible “would pay”. The minister, from the Five Star Movement, was rebuked by the opposition for using “political propaganda” so soon after the tragedy.
“It [the bridge] was a sort of jewel in Italian engineering, because at that time it was built with new engineering techniques. I used to enjoy passing over the bridge as a child, it was a novelty.” The Morandi Bridge, which was inaugurated in 1967, is 90-metres high and just over 1km long. Restructuring work on the bridge was carried out in 2016. The highway operator said work to shore up the foundation of the bridge was being carried out at the time of the collapse, and the bridge was constantly monitored.
Andrea Montefusco, an engineering expert at Luiss University in Rome, said: “It’s difficult to make any serious hypothesis right now. Some people are saying maybe lightning could have struck a cable on the bridge, but at this moment it’s too early to say anything about the cause.”
Montefusco, who grew up in Genoa, added: “It [the bridge] was a sort of jewel in Italian engineering, because at that time it was built with new engineering techniques. I used to enjoy passing over the bridge as a child, it was a novelty.”
About 12 bridges and overpasses have collapsed in Italy since 2004, killing seven people between them. In early 2015 a €13m viaduct in Palermo collapsed within days of opening. Poor structural maintenance was identified as the cause in most of the cases.
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