Genoa bridge collapse: Last three bodies found
August 19, 2018
The search operation for those missing after a motorway bridge collapsed in the Italian port city of Genoa ended overnight into Sunday after the last three bodies were found.
Officials put the official death toll at 43, after the remains of an Italian-Jamaican family of three — including their 9-year-old daughter — were retrieved from their car.
Searching the rubble
Italy's national fire department wrote on Twitter that recovery teams would continue inspecting the scene of the collapse "to rule out the possible presence of persons not reported as missing."
On Tuesday, a 200-meter (650-foot) section of the Morandi Bridge gave way in busy traffic, plunging more than 30 vehicles and chunks of concrete and twisted metal to the ground 50 meters below.
The bridge, which connects the city's eastern and western sides, was part of the A10 motorway that links the port city with the French border. It had been operational since 1967 and was managed by toll-road operator Autostrade per l'Italia, a unit of the infrastructure group Atlantia.
Read more: Opinion: Instead of reforms after Genoa, Italy's government blames others
The collapse, which happened during a thunderstorm, has initially been blamed on structural weakness. The bridge had been undergoing operational maintenance, according to Italian media reports.
Operator to face sanctions
The government has blamed Autostrade for the disaster, and on Friday launched a procedure to revoke concessions held by the company to operate toll highways.
Autostrade, whose leading shareholder is the fashion label family Benetton, has denied any negligence. The firm pledged half a billion euros on Saturday to rebuild the bridge and assist the families of the victims.
Read more: Atlantia motorway operator: Not just active in Italy
The Genoa branch of Italy's Interior Ministry updated a list of those who died in the collapse. They included four people from France, three from Chile, two from Albania, two from Romania, two from Jamaica and one each from Colombia and Peru.
Nine people are still in hospital, four in a critical condition, it said.
Grief turns to anger
Saturday was also a national day of mourning, in which state funerals were held in Genoa for only 18 of the victims. Some of the families of the dead preferred to hold private ceremonies citing a desire for privacy or anger with authorities.
On Sunday, the government announced plans to check and repair Italy's motorways, bridges and viaducts, to ensure its aging infrastructure was safe.
Giancarlo Giorgetti, undersecretary in the prime minister's office and a leading member of the League party, did not specify the cost of the plan but said "deficit, GDP or European rules did not matter."
mm/jlw (dpa, Reuters)