Resignations sought over collapsed bridge in Italy

ROME – After one of the deadliest structural failures in modern Italy, government officials took aim Wednesday at the company operating a bridge that collapsed in Genoa with calls for resignations and possible state control of highways from the Alps to the Mediterranean.

But the disaster that killed at least 39 people and injured more than a dozen also was becoming the first major domestic challenge for Italy’s new and inexperienced government. Among the urgent concerns was whether other parts of the country’s aging infrastructure could be at risk.

There had been several warning signs in recent years about the bridge’s condition, and the Italian news agency ANSA reported that the highway bridge operator, Autostrade per l’italia, described the structure in a 2011 report as showing “intense decay,” in part because of traffic volume.

Two Italian government leaders vowed to impose a major fine on the company, which operates 1,800 miles of highway nationwide. They also said they might take an even bigger step, seeking to hand control of Italy’s highways to the state – ending a system of private management that is common in much of Europe.

One government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Italy was not sure whether such a change would be legally or logistically feasible.

“The guilty party of the tragedy in Genoa has a name and surname, and it’s Autostrade per l’italia,” Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on Facebook before viewing the rubble of the Morandi Bridge by helicopter. “Autostrade should’ve carried out maintenance and didn’t. We need to pull back concessions and inflict fines.”

Di Maio added: “If a private company is not up to the task, the state will handle highways.”

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s interior minister and the government’s highest-profile politician, said on Twitter The remains of the Morandi motorway bridge stands on Wednesday after it partially collapsed in Genoa, Italy.

that the deal to manage the highway needs to be “redebated.”

“The state needs to go back to doing what a state does,” he wrote. “We’re not satisfied about the service being offered, and we act accordingly.”

The questions about the company’s role in the collapse

arose as workers continued to find bodies – and survivors – in the wreckage of steel and concrete.

Experts speculated about what caused the bridge, built in the 1960s, to give way during a major rainstorm.

The bridge collapse, which happened during

the height of Italy’s summer travel season, caused trucks and cars to plummet more than 150 feet. Autostrade per l’italia said that maintenance work had been ongoing, but experts said that the risks of reinforced concrete infrastructure can increase after several decades.