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ITALY-ACCIDENT
Second night of rescue efforts after deadly Italy bridge collapse
GENOA, Italy, Aug 16, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Rescue workers toiled through a
second night Thursday in a desperate bid to find survivors in the rubble of a
Genoa bridge which caved in during a heavy rainstorm, killing at least 39
people and injuring 16 more.
A vast span of the Morandi bridge collapsed in the northern port city on
Tuesday, sending about 35 cars and several trucks plunging 45 metres (150
feet) onto railway tracks below.
Italy’s government has blamed the firm that operated the collapsed bridge
for the disaster and announced a state of emergency in the region.
Children aged eight, 12 and 13 were among the dead, Interior Minister
Matteo Salvini said, adding that more people were still missing. Sixteen
people were injured.
The driver of a green lorry left precariously close to the edge told
Italian media how he had escaped the “hell” of the bridge collapse.
“It was raining very hard and it wasn’t possible to go very fast,” he told
the Corriere della Sera daily.
“When a car overtook me I slowed down… (then) at a certain moment
everything shook. The car in front of me disappeared and seemed to be
swallowed up by the clouds. I looked up and saw the bridge pylon fall,” he
said.
“Instinctively, finding myself in front of the void, I put the van into
reverse, to escape this hell,” he added.
Three Chileans, who live in Italy, and four French nationals were also
killed.
The tragedy has focused anger on the structural problems that have dogged
the decades old Morandi bridge and the private sector firm Autostrade per
l’Italia, which is currently in charge of operating and maintaining swathes
of the country’s motorways.
Deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio said the tragedy “could have been
avoided”.
“Autostrade should have done maintenance and didn’t do it,” he alleged.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also confirmed that his government would
push to revoke the company’s contract for the A10 motorway, which includes
the bridge, while Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said the company should
be fined up to 150 million euros ($170 million).
The firm, which said the bridge had been undergoing maintenance work,
however, released a statement refuting accusations of underfunding of
motorway infrastructure.
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“In the last five years (2012-2017) the company’s investment in the
security, maintenance and strengthening of the network has been over one
billion euros a year,” it said.
– ‘I went down with the car’ –
Survivors recounted the heart-stopping moment when the bridge buckled,
tossing vehicles and hunks of concrete into the abyss.
Davide Capello, a former goalkeeper for Italian Serie A club Cagliari,
plunged with his car but was unscathed.
“I was driving along the bridge, and at a certain point I saw the road in
front of me collapse, and I went down with the car,” he told TV news channel
Sky TG24.
As cars and trucks tumbled off the bridge, Afifi Idriss, 39, a Moroccan
truck driver, just managed to stop in time.
“I saw the green lorry in front of me stop and then reverse so I stopped
too, locked the truck and ran,” he told AFP.
While around a dozen apartment blocks that stand in the shadow of the
viaduct were largely spared the impact of the falling concrete, the Liguria
regional government said some 634 people had been evacuated.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the homes would have to be pulled
down.
– ‘A tragedy waiting to happen’ –
The incident is the latest in a string of bridge collapses in Italy, a
country prone to damage from seismic activity but where infrastructure
generally is showing the effects of a faltering economy.
The Morandi viaduct, completed in 1967, spans dozens of railway lines.
The bridge has been riddled with structural problems since its
construction, which has led to expensive maintenance and severe criticism
from engineering experts.
On Tuesday engineering website “Ingegneri.info” called it “a tragedy
waiting to happen”.
Conte also announced after a cabinet meeting Wednesday that a national day
of mourning was being planned. Media reports said it would be held on
Saturday to coincide with some of the funerals.
There would also be a 12-month state of emergency in and around Genoa,
Conte added, with five million euros of funds going into recovery work.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1100 hrs