MILAN -- A highway bridge collapsed Tuesday in the Italian city of Genoa during a violent storm, sending dozens of vehicles tumbling nearly 150 feet into a heap of rubble. Authorities said at least 26 people were killed, although some were found alive in the debris.
A huge section of the Morandi Bridge fell at midday over an industrial zone, sending tons of twisted steel and concrete onto warehouses below. Photos from the Italian news agency ANSA showed a gap between two sections of the bridge.
The disaster raised questions about the integrity of Italy's aging bridges.
Up to 35 cars and at least three trucks were on the 260-foot section of the span that collapsed, said Angelo Borrelli, the head of Italy's civil protection agency.
Hundreds of firefighters and emergency officials were searching for survivors in the rubble with heavy equipment. At least four people were pulled alive from vehicles under the bridge, ANSA reported.
Video of the collapse captured a man screaming: "Oh, God! Oh, God!"
Other images showed a green truck that had stopped on the bridge just short of the edge and the upended tires of a tractor-trailer in the rubble.
There was confusion over the death toll, which changed several times during the day.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte feared the death toll may rise in what he called "an immense tragedy."
"It is shocking to see the twisted metal and the bridge collapsed with victims who were extracted," Conte told RAI state TV.
Conte also praised the hundreds of rescue workers still at the site, saying "they saved people who fell [nearly 150 feet] and are now alive and in the hospital."
Borrelli, the civil protection chief, said at a news conference in Rome that the dead appeared to all have been in vehicles that fell.
One man who was standing under the bridge in front of his truck when the span collapsed called it "a miracle" that he survived. The middle-aged man, who did not give his name, said the shockwave sent him flying over 33 feet into a wall, injuring his right shoulder and hip.
"I was in front of the truck and flew away, like everything else. Yes, I think it's a miracle. I don't know what to say. I'm out of words," he said, walking away from the site.
The disaster occurred on a highway that connects Italy to France, and northern cities like Milan to the beaches of Liguria. The Morandi Bridge connects the A10 highway that goes toward the French Riviera and the A7 highway that continues north toward Milan. Inaugurated in 1967, it is just over a half-mile long.
Borrelli said highway engineers were still trying to figure out the cause of the collapse.
"You can see there are very big portions of the bridge [that collapsed]. We need to remove all of the rubble to ascertain that all of the people have been reached," he said. More than 300 rescue workers and canine crews were on the scene.
The collapse came on the eve of the Italian summer holiday of Ferragosto, which marks the religious feast of the Assumption of Mary. It's the high point of the season, when most businesses are closed and Italians head to the beaches or the mountains. That means traffic could have been heavier than usual on the Genoa highway.
The design of the bridge has been criticized in the past. Antonio Brencich, a professor specializing in reinforced concrete construction at the University of Genoa, called the span "a failure of engineering" in an interview in 2016.
"That bridge is wrong. Sooner or later it will have to be replaced. I do not know when. But there will be a time when the cost of maintenance will be higher than a replacement," he told Italian media outlet Primocanale.
Transportation Minister Danilo Toninelli called the collapse "an enormous tragedy."
Toninelli said the company that has the concession to operate that section of highway said its maintenance on the bridge was up to date and no work was being done at the time of the collapse. But he added that they were about to open a $22.7 million bidding process for significant safety work on the bridge.
"There has not been sufficient maintenance and checks, and safety work for many bridges and viaducts and bridges in Italy constructed -- almost all -- during the 1960s," he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Danica Kirka and Simone Somekh of The Associated Press.
A Section on 08/15/2018