Many dead in Italy road bridge collapse

A major motorway bridge has collapsed near the Italian city of Genoa, leading to vehicles falling some 100m (328ft).

Italian Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said it was likely to be “an immense tragedy”, while police sources said at least 10 people had died.

The head of the local ambulance service was quoted by one source as saying there were “dozens of dead”.

Video footage appears to show one of the towers holding up the suspension bridge collapsing in stormy weather.

The police linked it to what they called a violent cloudburst.

The collapsed section had mostly fallen onto rail tracks below, officials told the AFP news agency, adding that cars and trucks had also fallen.

One image posted by the regional emergency services shows a truck perched at the end of the surviving bridge section immediately before the drop, and says rescue workers are operating en masse at the scene.

#14ago #Genova 12:00, crolla parte del ponte Morandi sulla #A10. Le squadre #vigilidelfuoco stanno operando in massa, attivatinteam usar e cinofili pic.twitter.com/gjSJLvjw1K

— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) August 14, 2018

The bridge, built in the 1960s, stands on the A10 toll motorway and is known as the Morandi bridge. The missing section was dozens of metres in length, and ran across the span of the Polcevera stream.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica described that part of the city as “densely inhabited”.

The structure collapsed shortly before noon local time (10:00 GMT) during heavy rain.

An eyewitness told Italian public television there was a queue of traffic on the bridge at the time. Initial reports indicate there may be people trapped in the rubble.

Disastro a #Genova. Crolla il ponte Autostradale. Stiamo cercando informazioni. pic.twitter.com/f2Z0c91JLZ

— Sergio Battelli (@BattelliSergio) August 14, 2018

Source: BBC