Family members of the 43 people killed in the 2018 collapse of Genoa's Morandi highway bridge are expected to gather for verdicts in the trial of 57 defendants. The trial, which has spanned more than 280 hearings over four years, centers on charges including negligent disaster and multiple counts of manslaughter.
The defendants include former executives of the highway operator Autostrade per L’Italia, experts from its engineering company SPEA, and former officials from Italy’s Infrastructure Ministry. Prosecutors allege that years of maintenance neglect led to the disaster, while the defendants maintain the collapse was due to a construction defect. Prosecutors sought combined sentences totaling nearly 400 years.
The Morandi bridge, a section of which collapsed on August 14, 2018, during a rainstorm, was a vital route connecting northern Italy with the French Riviera. The collapse sent dozens of vehicles plunging to the ground, shocking the nation on a major travel day ahead of the Ferragosto holiday.
Lawyers for the victims highlighted evidence suggesting that warning signs about defects in the pylon that failed had existed for decades. They pointed to maintenance performed on two other identical pylons starting in 1993 that was not extended to the third.
Arrigo Giana, the current CEO of Autostrade, issued a public apology in an open letter, stating, “The actions and decisions of some people left indelible scars. Offering today the apology that was not made then is, for us, a moral imperative.”
Autostrade and its subsidiary previously reached a settlement on corporate liability, paying approximately 30 million euros ($34 million) in financial penalties. This agreement averted corporate trials and potential exclusion from public contracts. The settlements followed the implementation of new compliance procedures and compensation for victims.
A new bridge, designed by architect Renzo Piano, opened in 2020, and includes a memorial to those who died in the collapse.