This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/world/europe/italy-genoa-bridge-collapse.html

The article has changed 14 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Bridge Collapses in Genoa, Italy, Killing at Least 7 Bridge Collapses in Genoa, Italy, Killing at Least 20
(about 1 hour later)
ROME — A highway bridge in the heart of Genoa, Italy, collapsed Tuesday morning, killing at least seven people, officials said, as it dropped tons of concrete and steel onto buildings, streets, vehicles and railroad tracks below. ROME — A highway bridge in the heart of Genoa, Italy, collapsed on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people, officials said, as it dropped dozens of vehicles, and tons of concrete and steel, onto buildings, streets, vehicles and railroad tracks below.
Edoardo Rixi, the deputy transport minister, told RAI, an Italian broadcaster, that at least seven people had died, while the Interior Ministry said that the toll was at least 11, according to the Italian news service ANSA. Just before noon, the roadway fell as much as 45 meters, or about 148 feet, taking about three dozen cars and three trucks with it, said Angelo Borrelli, chief of the Civil Protection Department.
The government put the number of people confirmed dead at 20, but Edoardo Rixi, the deputy transport minister, told the Italian news agency ANSA that the figure was 22. Officials said that at least 13 others were known to be injured — five seriously — and rescue workers continued to pick through the debris in search of more victims.
“The toll is destined to grow,” Mr. Borrelli said. “All the rubble must be moved,” he added, to ensure that any vehicles crushed beneath the wreckage were found.
The transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, wrote on Twitter that the collapse “looks like an immense tragedy.”The transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, wrote on Twitter that the collapse “looks like an immense tragedy.”
The cause of the collapse was unclear, but Mr. Rixi said that the bridge had shown some “signs of problems” in the past. The national police noted that a “violent cloudburst” was underway at the time, and there were unconfirmed reports that the bridge collapsed after it had been struck by lightning. The cause of the failing was unclear, but Mr. Rixi said that the bridge had shown some “signs of problems” in the past. The national police noted that there was a “violent cloudburst” at the time, and there were unconfirmed reports that the bridge collapsed after it had been struck by lightning.
Photographs and videos posted online showed a stretch of roadway missing on the Morandi Bridge, estimated by some of the people posting as 100 meters, or about 330 feet, long, with vehicles stopped just short of the precipice. Speaking on national television, Mr. Toninelli said that the new government of Italy had “given a mandate” to improve the condition of the country’s aging infrastructure, including bridges.
The images showed cars and trucks that had been crushed by the debris, while rescue workers struggled in a driving rain to reach anyone who might be trapped. “Many need ordinary maintenance,” he said, “to avoid tragedies of this kind.”
The collapsed section is part of the A10 highway, near where the bridge crosses the Polcevera River. The segment that fell loomed over multistory structures. Photographs and videos posted online showed a stretch of road missing on the Morandi Bridge — estimated by some as 100 meters, or about 330 feet, long — with vehicles stopped just short of the precipice.
The A10 is a major east-west artery through the port city, and extends west along the coastline to the French border. Jagged chunks of debris the size of houses protruded at sharp angles from a riverbed, and huge pieces of the road, still partly propped up by support pillars, were left dangling.
Two hundred firefighters, working with dogs, were at the site, according to a spokesman. The images showed cars and trucks that had been damaged in the collapse, while rescue workers struggled in a driving rain to reach anyone who might be trapped.
Firefighters with rescue baskets were hoisted by cranes onto the piled wreckage to pull people from the rubble.
The collapsed section is part of the A10 highway, near where the bridge crosses the Polcevera River. The segment that fell had loomed high over multistory structures.
The A10 is a major east-west artery through the port city, and it extends west along the coastline to the border with France. The Morandi Bridge, built of reinforced concrete, opened in 1967, and local news media reported that it had been under repair.
More than 240 firefighters, working with dogs, were at the site to remove survivors from the wreckage. A spokesman for the civil protection agency in Liguria, the region that includes Genoa, said the collapse had missed some nearby houses but had crushed part of a warehouse belonging to the city’s garbage collection agency; it was unclear whether anybody had been inside.