Answers sought after Italy bridge collapse that killed 39
GENOA, ITALY — Italian prosecutors focused their investigation into the Genoa highway bridge collapse on possible design flaws or inadequate maintenance, as the death toll rose Wednesday to 39 people and Italian politicians looked for someone to blame.
Fears mounted that another part of the Morandi Bridge, which was carved in two by the collapse of its midsection during a violent storm Tuesday, could also come crashing down. That prompted authorities on Wednesday to widen an evacuation zone around the bridge, forcing some 630 people out of apartments in nearby buildings.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Danilo Toninelli raised the possibility that the evacuees may never again live there, saying the need to rebuild a new bridge on the city’s key artery could require the destruction of nearby residential buildings.
On Tuesday, just as many Italians were driving to vacation destinations on the eve of Italy’s biggest summer holiday, a huge stretch of the 51-year-old bridge collapsed, sending over 30 cars and three trucks plunging up to 50 feet to the ground. The section that collapsed was 260 feet long.
Still dazed or shaken, survivors on Wednesday recounted their brushes with death.
One truck driver provided a dramatic account, including a description of how an emblematic green truck seen in photos worldwide stopped just short off the abyss and of police heroism as the bridge crumbled.
The truck driver identified only as Idris said the green truck was saved thanks to a car that passed it, forcing its driver to brake slightly. The car plunged off into the chasm.
“That truck driver is the luckiest in the world,” Idris told Sky TG24. “He should have fallen in but there is a car that passed him ... he braked right where the bridge was broken.”