Rescuers search for Genoa bridge survivors as death toll reaches 39
Italy's deputy prime minister called for the resignations of senior executives at the company that operated the Morandi motorway bridge in Genoa which collapsed on Tuesday, killing at least 39 people.
Atlantia
€22.99
19:00 18/10/22
Deputy prime minister, Luigi Di Maio said Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli had started the process to cancel Autostrade per l’Italia's contract to run and manage the A10 toll motorway. Shares in the company remained suspended on Wednesday as were those of parent company Atlantia.
“I have given mandate to my ministry to start all proceedings to apply the agreement, that is to revoke the concession from these companies and seek significant sanctions,” Toninelli told RAI television
Di Maio said resignations should come "from the highest level".
“Those responsible for the tragedy in Genoa have a name and a surname, and they’re called Autostrade per l’Italia. For years it’s been said that private management would be better than that of the state," he said.
“And so today, we have one of the biggest dealers in Europe telling us that the bridge was safe and there was no worry of it collapsing. Autostrade had to maintain it but didn’t. It takes the highest road tolls in Europe and pays low taxes, moreover in Luxembourg.”
Rescuers and sniffer dogs searched through the rubble during the night, and heavy equipment was moved in to lift pieces of the bridge.
Witnesses described an "apocalypse" as a massive section of the Morandi Bridge collapsed onto an industrial area and the bed of the Polcevera River at about 11.30am during a sudden and violent storm. Rescue workers said at least 30 vehicles were involved.
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 15 injured. Pictures at the scene showed crushed cars and overturned trucks.
Shares in Atlantia fell 5.39% on the Milan stock exchange before halting trading. Autostradesaid 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%.
The company added that it had met with the leaders of the Liguria Region and the Municipality of Genoa and was now "busily engaged...to evaluate the best solutions to reconstruct the viaduct in the shortest possible time in an efficient and safe way".
"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 on Tuesday.
"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.
The Autostrada 10 runs along the northwestern Italian coast, connecting Genoa with the city of Ventimiglia and France. It is a component part of the wider European route E80 which stretches from Portugal to eastern Turkey.