Genoa bridge collapse: at least 11 killed in motorway plunge
A motorway bridge has collapsed in the northern Italian city of Genoa, in what the country’s transport minister said was likely to be “an immense tragedy”.
An 80-metre section of the Morandi Bridge on the A10 motorway came down in an industrial area of the port city during a sudden and violent storm at about 11.30am (0930 GMT).
At least 11 people were confirmed dead and 12 injured, the Ansa news agency reported, citing the interior ministry. The head of the local ambulance service said there were dozens of dead, according to unconfirmed reports by the Italian news agency Adnkronos.
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A truck stopped near the edge of the collapsed bridge. Photograph: APA local news website, Il Secolo XIX, reported there were at least 20 victimsand said more people could be buried in the rubble.
A fire service spokesperson told Agence France-Presse that the bridge had mostly fallen on to rail tracks 100 metres below and that cars and trucks had fallen with the rubble. A witness told Sky Italia television he saw eight or nine vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed.
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Aerial footage shows scale of destruction after Genoa bridge collapseAlberto Lercari, a bus driver, told Corriere della Sera: “I saw people running towards me, barefoot and terrified. I heard a roar. People ran away coming towards me. It was horrible.”
Amalia Tedeschi, a firefighter, told state TV that two people had been pulled alive from vehicles in the rubble and were being transported to hospital by helicopter.
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Rescuers work in the rubble. Photograph: Luca Zennaro/EPADavide Ricci, who had been travelling south, told La Stampa, “The debris landed about 20 metres from my car. First the central pillar crumbled and then everything else came down.”
The transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, said in a tweet that he was “following with great apprehension what seems like an immense tragedy”.
Genoa is located between the sea and the mountains of north-west Italy. Its rugged terrain means motorways run through the city and the surrounding area via long viaducts and tunnels.
The disaster occurred on a major artery to the Italian Riviera and to France’s southern coast. Traffic would have been heavier than usual as many Italians were travelling to beaches or mountains on the eve of a public holiday, Ferragosto.
The Morandi Bridge, which was inaugurated in 1967, is 90 metres high and just over 1km long. Restructuring work on the bridge was carried out in 2016. The highway operator said work to shore up the foundation of the bridge was being carried out at the time of the collapse, and the bridge was constantly monitored.
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The Morandi viaduct. Photograph: Luca Zennaro/EPAAndrea Montefusco, an engineering expert at Luiss University in Rome, said: “It’s difficult to make any serious hypothesis right now. Some people are saying maybe lightning could have struck a cable on the bridge, but at this moment it’s too early to say anything about the cause.
“It [the bridge] was a sort of jewel in Italian engineering, because at that time it was built with new engineering techniques. I used to enjoy passing over the bridge as a child, it was a novelty.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/14/genoa-motorway-bridge-collapses-italy
An 80-metre section of the Morandi Bridge on the A10 motorway came down in an industrial area of the port city during a sudden and violent storm at about 11.30am (0930 GMT).
At least 11 people were confirmed dead and 12 injured, the Ansa news agency reported, citing the interior ministry. The head of the local ambulance service said there were dozens of dead, according to unconfirmed reports by the Italian news agency Adnkronos.
FacebookTwitterPinterest
A truck stopped near the edge of the collapsed bridge. Photograph: APA local news website, Il Secolo XIX, reported there were at least 20 victimsand said more people could be buried in the rubble.
A fire service spokesperson told Agence France-Presse that the bridge had mostly fallen on to rail tracks 100 metres below and that cars and trucks had fallen with the rubble. A witness told Sky Italia television he saw eight or nine vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed.
Play Video
0:31
Aerial footage shows scale of destruction after Genoa bridge collapseAlberto Lercari, a bus driver, told Corriere della Sera: “I saw people running towards me, barefoot and terrified. I heard a roar. People ran away coming towards me. It was horrible.”
Amalia Tedeschi, a firefighter, told state TV that two people had been pulled alive from vehicles in the rubble and were being transported to hospital by helicopter.
FacebookTwitterPinterest
Rescuers work in the rubble. Photograph: Luca Zennaro/EPADavide Ricci, who had been travelling south, told La Stampa, “The debris landed about 20 metres from my car. First the central pillar crumbled and then everything else came down.”
The transport minister, Danilo Toninelli, said in a tweet that he was “following with great apprehension what seems like an immense tragedy”.
Genoa is located between the sea and the mountains of north-west Italy. Its rugged terrain means motorways run through the city and the surrounding area via long viaducts and tunnels.
The disaster occurred on a major artery to the Italian Riviera and to France’s southern coast. Traffic would have been heavier than usual as many Italians were travelling to beaches or mountains on the eve of a public holiday, Ferragosto.
The Morandi Bridge, which was inaugurated in 1967, is 90 metres high and just over 1km long. Restructuring work on the bridge was carried out in 2016. The highway operator said work to shore up the foundation of the bridge was being carried out at the time of the collapse, and the bridge was constantly monitored.
FacebookTwitterPinterest
The Morandi viaduct. Photograph: Luca Zennaro/EPAAndrea Montefusco, an engineering expert at Luiss University in Rome, said: “It’s difficult to make any serious hypothesis right now. Some people are saying maybe lightning could have struck a cable on the bridge, but at this moment it’s too early to say anything about the cause.
“It [the bridge] was a sort of jewel in Italian engineering, because at that time it was built with new engineering techniques. I used to enjoy passing over the bridge as a child, it was a novelty.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/14/genoa-motorway-bridge-collapses-italy