Bridge survivor’s miracle escape
A SURVIVOR of the Italian bridge collapse has described the highway falling out from under him.
A vast span of the Morandi bridge in Genoa collapsed on Tuesday, sending about 35 cars and several trucks plunging 45 metres (150 feet) onto railway tracks below.
At least 39 people – including children aged eight, 12 and 13 – were killed.
Davide Capello told France’s BFM television that he was driving on the Genoa bridge Tuesday when “I heard a heavy sound, and I saw cars in front of me falling. I saw the road collapse then I fell with them. I thought it was all over for me.”
Capello said he survived with only minor injuries because his car fell between concrete blocks that protected it from further damage.
Another witness, a French lawyer identified only as Leonine, said she and her husband and 3-year-old son were just entering the bridge when “we saw the pylon go completely to the right, and we realized what was happening.”
They tried to reverse the car, then “opened our doors, took our son out of his car seat and then left running until the tunnel.”