Italy motorway bridge collapse near Genoa kills at least 22

A large section of motorway bridge collapsed onto houses in the northern port city of Genoa on Tuesday killing at least 22 people, officials said.

The death toll fluctuated throughout the day, but Sky news cited Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte as saying the number of dead was verified at 22.

Luigi D’Angelo, head of the emergency unit at the civil protection service told a news conference in Genoa that at least 16 people were injured, five seriously, with at least 20 fatalities.

“These are the confirmed figures we have right now, but unfortunately the number is likely to rise,” he told reporters. He added that the cause of the collapse should be known “within the next few hours”.

Rescue workers said at least 30 vehicles were involved when a large section of the Morandi Bridge collapsed at about 11.30am during a sudden and violent storm.

Civil Protection Chief Angelo Borrelli said that 30 - 35 cars and three lorries were travelling on the A10 Genoa highway viaduct when it collapse. Four people had been rescued with another 10 believed to be missing. Pictures at the scene showed crushed cars on the bed of the Polcevera River.

Shares in Atlantia, the parent company of the motorway operator and maintenance firm Autostrade, fell sharply on the Milan stock exchange.

Autostrade, which operates the Genoa bypass, said in a statement that it was working to strengthen the 1960s viaduct and constantly monitored the state of the bridge. The company suspended its shares after falling 8.7%.

Shares in Societa Iniziative Autostradali e Servi (SIAS), which operates other sections not affected by the collapse of the A10 motorway, fell almost 5%.

"In relation to the collapse of part of the Polcevera viaduct on the A10, Autostrade per l'Italia reports that on the structure - dating back to the 1960s - works were underway to consolidate the viaduct slab and that, as planned, a bridge crane to allow maintenance activities to be carried out," Autostrade said on its website.

"The work and the status of the viaduct were subject to constant observation and supervision by the Tronco Management of Genoa. The causes of the collapse will be the object of in-depth analysis as soon as it will be possible to safely access the site."

State police posted a video of the span collapsing during a storm. Other images showed a truck stopped just before the edge of what remained, while footage from a helicopter showed the scale of the damage.

Some witnesses who were in the car near the Morandi bridge before the collapse saw "lightning strike the bridge", the ANSA news agency reported.

"It was just after 11:30 when we saw the lightning strike the bridge," said Pietro M. all'Asa - "and we saw the bridge going down".

The Autostrada 10 runs along the northwestern Italian coast, connecting Genoa with the city of Ventimiglia. It is a component part of the wider European route E80 which stretches from Portugal to eastern Turkey.

Around 200 firefighters are responding to the accident and have told the Associated Press they are concerned about gas lines.

A witness told Sky Italia television he saw "eight or nine" vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed in what he called an "apocalyptic scene".