22 dead after Italy bridge collapsed

According to Italian media, including RAI and La Republic, 22 people have died after a section of a highway bridge in northern Italy partially collapsed.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that several crushed vehicles are under the rubble with dead people inside. It reports that around 10 vehicles were affected after a section of the Morandi Bridge collapsed. Carabinieri police sources told ANSA some trucks ended up in the Polcevera river.

According to an image posted by the regional emergency services, it shows a truck perched at the end of the surviving bridge section immediately before the drop, and says rescue workers are operating at the scene.

The Morandi Bridge, which is built in the 1960s, stands on the A10 toll motorway. The missing section was dozens of metres in length, and ran across the span of the Polcevera river.

One of the witnesses said, “ It was just after 11:30 when we saw lightning strike the bridge. We saw the bridge is going down.” It was said that traffic was queuing on the bridge at the time. News reports indicate that there may be more people trapped in the rubble.