Number of victims of bridge collapse in Italy increases, risk warned in advance

The latest announcement from Italian government officials said that at least 35 people were killed and many others are still missing in the rubble after a bridge collapsed in the city of Genoa, Northern Italy.

At present, Italian authorities have also mobilized at least 200 firefighters working through the night to search for survivors. Many rescue teams from many places around the world, equipped with sniffer dogs, are also pouring into Genoa to assist local authorities in searching for victims.

Currently, in addition to efforts to quickly search for victims, Italian authorities are also concerned about the risk of gas leaks because the bridge collapse site is located right at an industrial plant.

The number of victims is expected to increase because the bridge collapse left behind thousands of tons of concrete and according to witnesses, at the time of the collapse, there were quite a few vehicles on the bridge.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte immediately went to Genoa on the afternoon of August 14 to direct the rescue work. Meanwhile, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini immediately declared that the Italian government will do everything to bring those responsible for this tragedy to light.

Meanwhile, the initial causes of the bridge collapse have begun to be analyzed. According to the Italian press, signs of instability related to the Morandi Bridge in Genoa were warned in 2016 when a professor of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Genoa, Antonio Brencich, warned that the Morandi Bridge had many design flaws, especially related to the concrete part of the bridge.

However, the warnings were ignored, despite the fact that the local government in Genoa has to spend more money on regular maintenance of the bridge than it did on construction.

Currently, leaders of many European countries such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have expressed their solidarity with the Italian Government and people, and said that these countries are ready to assist Italy with human resources and technology to overcome the consequences of the bridge collapse./.