A section of motorway bridge in a northern Italy port city has collapsed during a deadly storm.
In what has been described by witnesses as an “apocalypse”, a huge chunk of the Morandi Bridge on the A10 motorway came down in an industrial area of the northern port city of Genoa during a sudden and violent storm at about 11:30am (local time) on Tuesday.
The bridge collapse sent vehicles falling nearly 100 metres to the ground and killing at least 30 people, according to local authorities. The cause of the disaster was not immediately clear, although weather services in the region had issued a storm warning Tuesday morning. Authorities say the bridge collapse would have been impossible to predict.
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.
More than 30 cars and about 10 trucks were on the viaduct when it collapsed, according to Italy’s Civil Protection Agency. Television images show the bridge in the mist with a huge chunk missing, with Italian media reporting that about 200 metres of the bridge had fallen away.
“The scene is apocalyptic, like a bomb had hit the bridge,” Matteo Pucciarelli, a journalist for La Repubblica who lives in Genoa, told the Guardian. “There are about 200 rescuers working continuously. People are in shock, it’s a very important arterial road that connects Lombardy and Piedmont with Liguria.”
The office of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he was heading to Genoa in the evening and would remain there on Wednesday.
