Bridge collapse leaves at least 26 dead in Italian city of Genoa

At least 26 people were killed and 16 injured after a motorway bridge collapsed in the Italian city of Genoa.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called it “an immense tragedy ... inconceivable in a modern system like ours, a modern country”.

The Morandi Bridge, built in the 1960s, stands on the A10 toll motorway, an important route for goods traffic from local ports, which also serves the Italian Riviera and southern coast of France. The disaster focused attention on Italy’s ageing infrastructure, particularly its concrete bridges and viaducts built in the post-war boom of the 1950s and 1960s.

What caused the Morandi Bridge to fall remains unknown, and prosecutors said they were opening an investigation but had not identified any targets.

Transport minister Danilo Toninelli said the collapse was “unacceptable” and that if negligence played a role “whoever made a mistake must pay”.

Early speculation focused on the structural weakness of the span.

Witnesses reported hearing a roar as around 80 metres of the 45-metre-tall bridge collapsed in torrential rain during midday traffic on the eve of a major holiday that sees many Italians abandoning cities for beaches and mountains.

One unidentified woman who was standing below told RAI state TV that it crumbled as if it were a mound of baking flour. Video of the collapse, showing a misty scene of crumbled concrete, captured a man screaming: “Oh, God! Oh, God!”

Civil Protection authorities said at least 30 cars and three heavy vehicles were on the section of the bridge that collapsed on to an industrial area of warehouses.

Picture: AP. Around 80 metres of the Morandi Bridge collapsed in torrential rain. At least 26 people have been killed.