Italy: Morandi Bridge, a scandal of appalling magnitude
On August 14, 2018, a section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa collapsed, killing 43 people.
AFP - ANDREA LEONI
Text by: Anne Le Nir Follow
3 min
More than two and a half years after the collapse of the Morandi viaduct, the public prosecutor's office in Genoa, Liguria, issued the conclusions of its investigation.
They bring to light multiple negligence.
They are overwhelming for those responsible for the management and maintenance of this motorway bridge.
Publicity
Read more
From our correspondent in Rome,
On August 14, 2018, when a violent thunderstorm hit the region of Genoa, a long section of the Morandi motorway viaduct, named after the engineer who designed it in the 1960s, bends like a castle of maps and drags dozens of vehicles in its fall, under the bewildered gaze of the inhabitants of the buildings located below. The toll is very heavy: 43 dead, including four French, about fifteen wounded and a town semi-paralyzed because this prestressed reinforced concrete bridge, inaugurated in 1967, was a fundamental axis for the port activities of Genoa.
The Genoa public prosecutor's office immediately opened an
investigation
and, from the start, it was not the bad weather that was involved or chance.
"
There is no fatality in this tragedy but certainly human error,
" said Francesco Cozzi, the prosecutor at the head of this preliminary investigation.
Since then, 69 people have been prosecuted in this case.
Among them, officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure, but also officials from the company
Autostrade per l'Italia
, the bridge manager, and the engineering company Spea, two subsidiaries of the Atlantia group whose main shareholder is the Benetton family. .
►
To listen: How could the Genoa motorway viaduct collapse?
Total absence of bridge maintenance
The investigation report underlines that the disaster is mainly due to the collapse of the pillar number 9 of the bridge, caused by the corrosion of the steel cables.
In 51 years, no intervention has been made to reinforce the stays of this pillar.
The investigation further concludes that there is a total lack of maintenance on the bridge and very random checks, carried out using simple binoculars.
All this to increase the profits of the companies concerned.
Really damning conclusions for the people involved who risk a trial, especially for manslaughter, violation of transport safety standards and voluntary collapse.
The new bridge baptized "Genova-San Giorgio", in honor of one of the patron saints of Genoa, was inaugurated in August 2020
without the presence of the families of the victims
who still and always demand truth and justice.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Italy
On the same subject
Genoa does not forget the victims of the Pont Morandi tragedy
Italy / Transport
Genoa disaster: restoring traffic without the Morandi bridge, a real challenge
Italy / Genoa Bridge
Italy commemorates first anniversary of Morandi Bridge collapse