At least 37 people died when a motorway bridge collapsed in the northern Italian city of Genoa, the authorities have confirmed.
A 250ft-long section of the Ponte Morandi bridge gave way yesterday morning during a violent storm, sending cars, lorries and massive chunks of concrete tumbling down 160ft onto warehouses and factories below.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said three children, aged eight, 12 and 13, were among the victims.
Emergency services, including 200 firefighters, sniffer dogs and heavy machinery to lift the debris, are working around the clock to locate those trapped in the rubble of the collapsed bridge.
Two of the three search zones established yesterday have now been fully explored, Ansa reports. Rescue workers are now combing the third for more victims, living or dead.
So far, 16 people have been rescued from the rubble and taken to hospital - 12 of them in critical condition.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who arrived in the port city last night, will meet some of the wounded today as he visits two local hospitals.
Meanwhile, “more than 400 people have been evacuated amid fears other parts of the bridge might fall”, the BBC reports.
The operator responsible for the motorway said that “work to shore up the foundation of the bridge was being carried out at the time of the collapse”, NBC News reports.
The entire bridge, which was built in the 1960s, is to be demolished, according to Deputy Transport Minister Edoardo Rixi.
Helicopter footage shows the scale of the devastation beneath the collapsed section, which ran above “shopping centres, factories, some homes, the Genoa-Milan railway line and the river”, says Ansa.
The moment of the collapse was inadventantly caught on camera by local man Davide di Giorgio, who was filming the storm raging over the city on his phone when the bridge fell apart. He can he heard shouting “Oh Dio!” (Oh God!) as the road gives way:
-
The Week Unwrapped: Are British rappers the world’s best?Podcast Plus can the Maldives quit smoking? And can whales lead us to immortality?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A leap through the leaves, a typhoon's aftermath, and more
-
Microsoft pursues digital intelligence ‘aligned to human values’ in shift from OpenAIUNDER THE RADAR The iconic tech giant is jumping into the AI game with a bold new initiative designed to place people first in the search for digital intelligence
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
