Search for survivors after deadly Italy bridge collapse, govt blames operator

GENOA, Italy－Rescuers searched for survivors amid the debris of Italy's bridge collapse on Wednesday as the death toll climbed to 39 and the government blamed the bridge's operator, demanding resignations and moving to strip its toll concession.

A vast span of the Morandi bridge caved in during a heavy rainstorm in the northern port city on Tuesday, sending about 35 cars and several trucks plunging 45 meters onto the railway tracks below.

Civil protection authorities confirmed on Wednesday that 39 people had died and 15 were injured. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said three children were among the dead.

The victims include children aged 8, 12 and 13, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Wednesday, adding that more people were still missing.

Rescuers recovered three bodies overnight, fire official Emanuele Gissi said, after scouring the scene of devastation under floodlights.

"All accessible spaces have been explored, now we are moving the largest pieces of debris," Gissi said.

"We cannot know if there are survivors remaining, but it's our job to search."

The collapse came as the bridge was undergoing maintenance work and as the Liguria region, where Genoa is situated, experienced torrential rainfall.

Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who is due to arrive in Genoa on Wednesday morning, said the tragedy "could have been avoided".

"Autostrade should have done maintenance and didn't do it," he said.

Sources in the Interior Ministry told Italian media that 16 people were wounded, including 12 in serious condition.

'Catastrophe'

Italian President Sergio Mattarella said a "catastrophe" had hit Genoa and the whole of Italy.

"Italians have the right to modern and efficient infrastructure that accompanies them safely through their everyday lives," Mattarella said in a statement.

Italy's transport minister called on Wednesday for senior managers to resign at the company operating the bridge.

The government will also look into stripping Autostrade per l'Italia, a unit of the Atlantia group, of the concession to manage the motorway that included the Morandi Bridge, and imposing financial penalties on the group, Danilo Toninelli said.

Aerial footage showed more than 200 meters of the viaduct was completely destroyed.

Rescuers combed through the wreckage strewed among shrub land and train tracks, as helicopters winched survivors on stretchers from the rubble.

A thousand people have been mobilized in the rescue effort, according to official.

As cars and trucks tumbled off the bridge, Afifi Idriss, a Moroccan lorry driver, managed to come to a halt 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 said.

Some that plunged down with the bridge managed to escape unscathed, including a former goalkeeper for Italian Serie A soccer club Cagliari.

"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," Davide Capello told TV news channel Sky TG24.

The incident－the deadliest of its kind in Europe since 2001－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.

AFP-Reuters