Four more bodies have been found in the rubble of the Genoa bridge collapse, raising the death toll to 42, according to Italian media.
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August 18 2018 11:50 AM
Four more bodies have been found in the rubble of the Genoa bridge collapse, raising the death toll to 42, according to Italian media.
Genoa’s prefect’s office could not confirm the reports by the Ansa news agency and other Italian news media that the bodies were found by recovery workers overnight.
Ansa said three bodies were found in a car smashed under a huge block of concrete from the collapse on Tuesday.
It said they were three family members, including a nine-year-old girl, who had been travelling for a holiday when their car, with about 30 other vehicles, plunged when the bridge gave way.
State radio said the body of a 30-year-old man had also been found.
The report added that recovery workers believe all those previously thought missing might have been accounted for, after an elderly German man called local authorities to say he was OK and not involved in Tuesday’s tragedy.
Meanwhile, mourners filled a fairground pavilion for a state funeral for many of the victims killed when a section of the Morandi Bridge crashed 150ft into a dry riverbed and nearby areas.
Mourners applauded firefighters and others involved in search-and-rescue efforts as they arrived for a day of national mourning.
By early Saturday, families of 18 victims had confirmed their participation in the funeral and mass celebrated by Genoa’s archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco. Government leaders are also attending.
Before the state funeral, President Sergio Mattarella, head bowed, paused in silence before the coffins, then spoke briefly with each group of families.
On each coffin were names of the dead. Photographs of those who died, flowers, and on at least one coffin, a signed football shirt, a small sports trophy and a stuffed animal added personal touches.
Players and managers of Genoa’s two football teams were among those attending the funeral. Sampdoria and Genoa had already announced they would not play their scheduled matches this weekend.
Also attending were premier Giuseppe Conte and several cabinet members, including the transportation and infrastructure minister.
Others opted for private funerals, including one on Friday for four friends, young men in their 20s, from the southern town of Torre del Greco.
At that service, relatives angrily denounced authorities for what they claimed was a failure to keep the bridge safe.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation. Prosecutors have said they are focusing either on possible design flaws or inadequate maintenance.
Italy’s Autostrade per l’Italia said it would hold a news conference in Genoa to announce initiatives it would take after the collapse of the motorway bridge.
Autostrade, a unit of infrastructure group Atlantia, manages the section of the A10 motorway linking Genoa to the French border.
The group said its chairman and chief executive officer would outline initiatives to support victims’ families, missing people and those evacuated from their homes as well as others aimed at helping traffic in the city.
It will be the company’s first public appearance since the disaster.
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