Antonino Galofaro (in Genoa) 4:16 p.m., July 07, 2022

Almost four years after the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa, the trial of the drama has opened.

The collapse of one of the largest motorway bridges in Italy had caused dozens of vehicles to fall.

Forty-three people lost their lives in the disaster.

The determination of the responsibility of the motorway company "Autostrade per l'Italia" is at the heart of the issues at stake in the trial.

It is a shocking image that struck the whole world in 2018. That year, one of the largest motorway bridges in Italy collapsed on August 14 in Genoa, causing dozens of cars to fall.

Forty-three people had lost their lives, including four Frenchmen.

The trial of this Morandi bridge disaster opened on Thursday.

There are 59 defendants and among the main issues, justice intends to determine the responsibility of the motorway company

Autostrade per l'Italia

.

"We already knew the dangerousness of the structure since 2013"

Families and loved ones of victims want to know who is behind a tragedy that they believe could have been avoided.

“There was an independent report ordered by the judge which defines the causes of the collapse”, specifies Egle Possetti, president of the committee of the victims of the Morandi bridge.

"This report indicates that there has been an absence or insufficient maintenance. We already knew the dangerousness of the structure since 2013 and nothing has been done."

The collapse of the bridge had caused the death of 43 people, including four French victims.

Three of them, aged 20 to 22, had left Montpellier to join a techno festival in Sardinia.

The fourth victim, a 22-year-old young man, had joined a carpool from Nîmes to Italy.

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These are former managers or employees of

Autostrade per l'Italia

and its sister company SPEA, two companies in charge of the maintenance of the bridge, who are in the dock.

At their side, officials who were responsible at the time for controlling the work.

A total of 59 people are accused, among other things, of manslaughter, an attack on transport security or even of having deliberately caused the collapse of the Morandi bridge.

The trial promises to be long, between two and three years.

The judge will have to hear no less than 180 witnesses. 

The Genoa bridge reopened to traffic two years after the tragedy, on August 4, 2020. The families of the victims had refused to participate in the event.