The alarming photo before bridge collapse that killed 39
Chilling images have emerged of the doomed Italian bridge “crumbling” up to 18 months before it collapsed, killing at least 39 people.
Tragedy struck when the 50-metre-high section of the Genoa bridge crashed down during a violent storm on Tuesday, with as many as 35 vehicles driving on it.
Among the 39 dead were three children and dozens more were injured.
In the wake of the tragedy, pictures have emerged appearing to show a badly damaged and crumbling bridge, with social media users claiming the warning signs were evident up to a year ago.
While the cause of the Morandi bridge collapse in the northern port city is currently under investigation, there has been widespread debate over the state of the country’s infrastructure in general in recent years.
Following the disastrous collapse, locals have posted pictures taken as early as February last year, appearing to show spot repairs to the concrete.
Locals tweeted they had warned Italian authorities about the state of the landmark for months.
The incident, the deadliest of its kind in Europe since 2001, is the latest in a string of bridge collapses in Italy – a country prone to damage from seismic activity, but where infrastructure generally is showing the effects of a faltering economy.
Probe into inadequate maintenance or a ‘design flaw’
Genoa Prosecutor Francesco Cozzi told reporters the investigation into the collapse was focused on human causes, specifically the possibility of inadequate maintenance or a design flaw in the bridge’s construction.
“I don’t know if there is responsibility. For sure it was not an accident,” he said.
Asked if authorities had been given any warning that the bridge — a key link between two major highways, one headed toward France and the other to Milan — could be dangerous, Cozzi indicated that no serious safety concerns had reached his office before the collapse.
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Otherwise “none of us would have driven over that highway 20 times a month, as we do,” Cozzi said.
A $22.7 million project to upgrade the bridge’s safety had already been approved, with public bids to be submitted by September.
According to the business daily Il Sole, the improvement work involved two weight-bearing columns that support the bridge — including one that collapsed Tuesday.
The 1967 bridge, considered innovative in its time for its use of concrete around its cables, was long due for an upgrade, especially since the structure was used more than its designers had envisioned.
One construction expert, Antonio Brencich at the University of Genoa, had previously called the bridge “a failure of engineering”.
Other engineers, noting the bridge was 51-years-old, said corrosion and decades of wear-and-tear from weather could have been factors in its collapse.
With AP
