Share this Story: 'OH GOD! OH GOD! ': Bridge collapses in Italy during heavy storm, crushing cars 'OH GOD! OH GOD! ': Bridge collapses in Italy during heavy storm, crushing cars Photo by ANDREA LEONI / AFP/Getty Images Article content MILAN — A highway bridge collapsed Tuesday in the Italian city of Genoa during a violent storm, sending vehicles plunging 45 metres (nearly 150 feet) into a heap of rubble. Authorities have raised to 26 the number of dead in the collapse of a highway bridge in the port city of Genoa. A huge section of the Morandi Bridge fell at midday over an industrial zone, sending tons of twisted steel and concrete onto warehouses below. Photos from the Italian news agency ANSA showed a massive gap between two sections of the bridge. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 'OH GOD! OH GOD! ': Bridge collapses in Italy during heavy storm, crushing cars Back to video The head of Italy’s civil protection agency, Angelo Borrelli, said up to 35 cars and at least three trucks were on the 80-meter (260-foot) section of the span that collapsed. Hundreds of firefighters and emergency officials were searching for survivors in the rubble with heavy equipment. At least four people were pulled alive from vehicles under the bridge, ANSA reported. Video of the collapse captured a man screaming: “Oh, God! Oh, God!” Other images showed a green truck that had stopped on the bridge just short of the edge and the tires of a tractor trailer in the rubble. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content There was confusion over the death toll, which changed several times during the day. Civil protection authorities said 20 were killed and 16 were injured, at least 10 of them severely, based on multiple verifications from the prefecture’s office. But Genoa Mayor Marco Bucci told Sky TG24 that the number of dead was above 25 and that 11 injured were pulled from the rubble. Two other officials earlier put the toll at 22 dead with 13 injured but said it was expected to rise. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Borrelli told a news conference in Rome that the dead appeared to all have been in vehicles that fell. One man who was standing under the bridge in front of his truck when the span collapsed called it “a miracle” that he survived. The middle-aged man, who did not give his name, said the shockwave sent him flying over 10 metres (33 feet) into a wall, injuring his right shoulder and hip. “I was in front of the truck and flew away, like everything else. Yes, I think it’s a miracle. I don’t know what to say. I’m out of words,” he said, walking away from the site. The disaster occurred on a highway that connects Italy to France, and northern cities like Milan to the beaches of Liguria. The Morandi Bridge connects the A10 highway that goes toward the French Riviera and the A7 highway that continues north toward Milan. Inaugurated in 1967, it is just over a kilometre (.6 miles) long. The collapse came on the eve of the Italian summer holiday of Ferragosto, which marks the religious feast of the Assumption of Mary. It’s the high point of the season, when most businesses are closed and Italians head to the beaches or the mountains. That means traffic could have been heavier than usual on the Genoa highway. Violento nubifragio #Genova #crollo parte del viadotto Polcevera-Morandi Km 0,200 su autostrada A10 Uscita obbligatoria Genova aeroporto direzione Ventimiglia Uscita obbligatoria bivio A10 con A7 direzione Genova @StradeAnas @DPCgov @emergenzavvf @Viminale @ComunediGenova pic.twitter.com/7YJINjFWRX — Polizia di Stato (@poliziadistato) August 14, 2018 Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The design of the bridge has been criticized in the past. Antonio Brencich, a professor specializing in reinforced concrete construction at the University of Genoa, called the span “a failure of engineering” in an interview in 2016. “That bridge is wrong. Sooner or later it will have to be replaced. I do not know when. But there will be a time when the cost of maintenance will be higher than a replacement,” he told Italian media Primocanale. Other engineers said corrosion or weather conditions could have been part of the cause. “As this reinforced and pre-stressed concrete bridge has been there for 50 years, it is possible that corrosion of tendons or reinforcement may be a contributory factor,” said Ian Firth, former president of The Institution of Structural Engineers, a London-based international network. He called the bridge “an unusual design.” Mehdi Kashani, an associate professor in structural mechanics at the University of Southampton in the U.K., said maintenance issues and pressure from “dynamic loads,” such as traffic and wind, could have resulted in “fatigue damage in bridge components.” Borrelli said highway engineers were checking other parts of the bridge and that some areas were evacuated as a precaution. He said they were still trying to figure out the cause of the collapse. “You can see there are very big portions of the bridge (that collapsed). We need to remove all of the rubble to ascertain that all of the people have been reached,” he said. More than 300 rescue workers and canine crews were on the scene. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “Operations are ongoing to extract people imprisoned below parts of the bridge and twisted metal,” he said. Transportation Minister Danilo Toninelli called the collapse “an enormous tragedy,” adding that if negligence played a role, “whoever made a mistake must pay.” Toninelli said the company that has the concession to operate that section of highway said its maintenance on the bridge was up to date and no work was being done at the time of the collapse. But he added that they were about to launch a 20 million euro ($22.7 million) bidding process for significant safety work on the bridge. “There has not been sufficient maintenance and checks, and safety work for many bridges and viaducts and bridges in Italy constructed — almost all — during the 1960s,” he said. Since getting the job two months ago, Toninelli said he has asked for updates on the state of all bridges and viaducts in Italy. Many are operated by outside contractors. French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, offered his country’s help in a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who travelled to the site. It was the second deadly disaster on an Italian highway in as many weeks. On Aug. 6, a tanker truck carrying a highly flammable gas exploded after rear-ending a stopped truck and getting hit from behind near the northern city of Bologna. The accident killed one person, injured dozens and blew apart a section of a raised eight-lane highway. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Share this article in your social network Latest National Stories Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Trending<doc-sep>At least 35 people were killed when a motorway bridge collapsed in torrential rains this morning over buildings in the northern Italian port city of Genoa, Italian media has cited fire brigade sources as saying. A 80-metre section of the bridge, including one set of the supports that tower above it, crashed down in the rain onto the roof of a factory and other buildings, crushing at least one truck and plunging huge slabs of concrete into the river below. "It's not acceptable that such an important bridge... was not built to avoid this kind of collapse," Deputy Transport Minister Edoardo Rixi said on SkyNews24, speaking from Genoa. Helicopter footage on social media showed trucks and cars stranded on either side of the 50-metre high collapsed section of the Morandi Bridge, which was built on the A10 toll motorway in the 1960s. One truck was shown just metres away from the broken end of the bridge. We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences Restructuring work on the 1.2km-long bridge, a major artery to the Italian Riviera and to France's southern coast, was carried out in 2016. The highway operator said work to shore up its foundation was being carried out at the time of the collapse, adding that the bridge was constantly monitored. A witness told Sky Italia television he saw "eight or nine" vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed in what he said was an "apocalyptic scene". Some 200 firefighters were on the scene, the fire service said, and Italian news agency ANSA said two survivors had been pulled out of the rubble under the collapse. Aerial footage shows collapsed bridge in Genoa | https://t.co/TZQOSzj2iq pic.twitter.com/3QmBMSLD4i — RTÉ News (@rtenews) August 14, 2018 We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences Police footage showed firefighters working to clear debris around a crushed truck, while other firefighters nearby scaled broken slabs of the collapsed bridge support. Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli told Italian state television the disaster showed the dilapidated state of Italy's infrastructure and a lack of maintenance, adding that "those responsible will have to pay". Train services around Genoa have been halted. The office of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he was heading to Genoa this evening and would remain there tomorrow. Defence minister Elisabetta Trenta said the army was ready to offer manpower and vehicles to help with the rescue operations. Irish woman crossed bridge with family just hours before collapse An Irish woman has spoken of her shock at hearing of the collapse just hours after she and her family crossed the bridge. Speaking on RTÉ News at One, Jean Androne said she was holidays in Genoa visiting relatives of her husband who is from the region. She was travelling with him and her youngest child when she crossed the bridge this morning. "My husband and my youngest child were in the car ... my 11-year-old ... taking the hire car back to the airport ... and it's a journey we do quite regularly," she said. "We're all incredibly shaken by the news ... really shocked. It's the closest we've ever been to something so tragic." Mrs Androne said there was torrential rain in the region last night and they had heard reports that weather may have played a part in the collapse. "My husband just spoke to his cousin who had traveled underneath and he said a witness said lightning had struck the bridge and then the rest followed." She said she and her husband are trying to find out if any of his relatives may have been caught up in the disaster.<doc-sep>Firefighters with sniffer dogs were working through the night to try to find survivors beneath the rubble of a giant bridge that collapsed in the Italian port city of Genoa. At least 35 people, including a child, died in the disaster, which happened as the city was lashed by an intense thunderstorm, but the toll was expected to rise. Officials said 15 people were injured and 10 of them were in a critical condition. Four people were pulled alive from the rubble. Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte called it "an immense tragedy ... inconceivable in a modern system like ours, a modern country." Dozens of cars and trucks plunged 150ft to the ground after the elevated motorway suddenly collapsed.<doc-sep>
ROME — At least 23 people were killed when a highway bridge collapsed during a violent storm in Italy's northern city of Genoa on Tuesday. Part of the Morandi Bridge fell during torrential rainfall around 11:30 a.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET). Around 200 firefighters were sent to the scene, authorities said. The section of the A10 toll highway that collapsed was elevated over a river and a portion of the city. Rescuers scour the debris after the bridge collapsed. Luca Zennaro / AP Earlier, the regional government said 35 people had died, quoting the fire brigade. Hours later, the Office of the Interior Ministry said 23 people had died and 15 were injured. Authorities said 19 of the deceased had been identified. Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said in a tweet that he was "following with great apprehension what seems like an immense tragedy." Genoa resident Davide di Giorgio was shooting a video of the stormy weather and captured the moment on camera. "I was actually filming the rain so that I could send the video to my parents," di Giorgio told NBC News. "Suddenly the bridge collapsed in front of me, I couldn’t believe it." He added: "That’s one of the most important bridges in the city. Genoa is now cut in half." Another witness told Sky Italia television he saw vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed in what he described as an "apocalyptic scene." Emergency official Amalia Tedeschi told RAI TV that sniffer dogs were working in the rubble. In addition, heavy equipment was being moved in so they could lift pieces of the bridge. Tedeschi said the part of the bridge that collapsed was about 80 yards long. About 50 people were displaced from homes located below the bridge, which was built in the 1960s. The bridge before it collapsed. Giovanni Caito / Getty Images The highway operator said work to shore up the foundation of the bridge was being carried out at the time of the collapse, adding that the bridge was constantly monitored. The highway is a major artery to the Italian Riviera and to France's southern coast. On Tuesday, far-right leaning Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini said via Twitter, "The more I think about the deaths of Genoa, the more I get angry. Those responsible for this disaster, with names and surnames, will have to pay, pay everything, pay dearly." Claudio Lavanga reported from Rome, and Yuliya Talmazan from London.