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- A huge highway bridge collapsed in Genoa, northern Italy, on Tuesday morning.
- At least 26 people have died, officials said, warning that the death toll will rise further.
- Italy's deputy transport minister said 20 vehicles and buildings below the bridge were involved in the disaster.
- Eleven people have been pulled alive from the rubble and transported to a hospital by helicopter, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
- Photos and video footage on social media showed a huge portion of the bridge missing and rubble on the ground beneath.
At least 26 people have been killed after a highway bridge collapsed in the northern Italian city of Genoa, the mayor said hours after the collapse — and the death toll could rise further.
Officials in the Liguria region told the Associated Press on Tuesday night that 26 people had died, saying two more bodies had been found and one of the 16 injured had died in surgery. Reuters, citing local reports, is saying the death toll has reached 35.
The governor of the Liguria region, which contains Genoa, said that the current death toll would rise "significantly," Reuters reported.
Eleven people have been pulled out alive from the rubble under the bridge, and one is being transported to a hospital by helicopter, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
At least 20 vehicles were involved in the collapse, Deputy Transport Minister Edoardo Rixi said, and the disaster had affected people in the buildings below.
Arial footage showed the aftermath of the disaster:
Un ringraziamento alle centinaia di professionisti e volontari impegnati da ore nei soccorsi e una preghiera per le vittime e per le loro famiglie.
Andremo fino in fondo per accertare le responsabilità di questo disastro immane. pic.twitter.com/oCXt85gjMC
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) August 14, 2018
The collapsed Morandi bridge was a section of the A10 motorway, near the city center. The collapse took place as torrential rain fell in the region at 11.30 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
The section of the bridge that collapsed was about 80 meters (262 feet) long and 50 meters (164 feet) above the ground, and crossed over railway tracks and some buildings, according to Reuters.
The head of the ambulance service said there were "dozens of dead," according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.
'There was no reason to consider the bridge dangerous'
Photos of the aftermath show a large portion of the Morandi bridge missing.(Luca Zennaro/ANSA via AP
The director of the motorway operator Austrade for Genoa said on Tuesday evening that it was too soon to determine the cause of collapse.
"The collapse was unexpected and unpredictable. The bridge was constantly monitored, even more than was foreseen by the law," Stefano Marigliani, Austrade director for the Genoa area, told Reuters.
"There was no reason to consider the bridge dangerous," he added.
Dramatic photos show the damage
Photographs from the scene show rubble on the ground underneath the bridge and a number of buildings underneath it.
Image and videos on Twitter showed a large portion of the bridge missing:
One photo on Twitter showed a green truck stopped just meters before the newly created gulf:
Genova, Italy. Another chilling image from my native region: a lorry stops meters from the gap left by a stretch of the suspension bridge which collapsed on the A10 motorway in Genoa this morning. #morandi pic.twitter.com/w2GpIMl5iU
— Carlo Gianuzzi (@bonhomme69) August 14, 2018
The area below the bridge is heavily built up, footage shows:
These dramatic before-and-after images show the scale of the incident:
BREAKING. OMG, a motorway bridge has just collapsed over houses, buildings a railway in Genoa, #Italy, several victims feared.
(in the pics the bridge before and after the incident) pic.twitter.com/W0OK3Zy8h9
— Antonello Guerrera (@antoguerrera) August 14, 2018
Local police also posted photo and video footage of the aftermath:
'Whoever made a mistake must pay'
Matteo Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister, said on Facebook that he and other officials were closely monitoring the disaster response.
Italy's transport minister Danilo Toninelli said the collapse was "unacceptable," and that if negligence played a role, "whoever made a mistake must pay," the Associated Press reported.
Toninelli said no maintenance work was underway at the time of the collapse and that maintenance was up to date, adding that the government was planning to launch a 20 million euro ($22.7 million) bidding process for significant safety work on the bridge.
Since taking office, Toninelli has asked for updates on the state of all bridges and viaducts in the country.
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The bridge was built in the 1960s, and restructuring work was carried out on the bridge in 2016, Reuters reported.
A structural engineer specializing in bridges says told the Associated Press that corrosion or weather conditions could have been part of the reason the bridge collapsed.
"As this reinforced and prestressed concrete bridge has been there for 50 years it is possible that corrosion of tendons or reinforcement may be a contributory factor," said Ian Firth, former president of The Institution of Structural Engineers.
"The fact that there was reported to be a storm at the time may or may not be particularly relevant," he added. "In addition, ongoing work on the bridge may or may not be partly responsible for the collapse."
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