At least 22 dead in Italy bridge collapse

A bridge on a main highway linking Italy with France collapsed on Tuesday in the Italian port city of Genoa during a sudden, violent storm, sending vehicles plunging 45 metres into a heap of rubble below. A transport official said at least 22 people were killed and eight injured in the tragedy.

A huge section of the Morandi Bridge collapsed over an industrial zone, sending tons of twisted steel and concrete debris onto warehouses below. Photos published by the Italian news agency ANSA showed a massive, empty gulf between two sections of the bridge.

Amalia Tedeschi, a firefighter, told RAI state TV that some 20 vehicles, including cars and trucks, were caught up as an 80-metre stretch of the bridge collapsed. She said two people had been pulled alive from vehicles in the rubble. Officials said they were transported by helicopter to a hospital.

Edoardo Rixi, a transport official, told Sky TV that 22 were dead and 8 were injured in the collapse.

Firefighters told The Associated Press they were worried about gas lines exploding in the area from the collapse.

ANSA said authorities suspected that a structural weakness had caused the collapse, but there was no immediate explanation for what had happened.

Italy’s transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, called the collapse “an enormous tragedy.”

News agency ANSA said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will travel to Genoa later Tuesday. Interior minister Matteo Salvini said some 200 firefighters were responding to the accident.

The disaster occurred on a highway connects Italy to France, and cities like Milan to the beaches of Liguria. AP

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