The trial of the collapsed Genoa viaduct opens in Italy

Published on: 07/07/2022 – 07:54 The trial for the collapse of the Genoa motorway bridge opens Thursday in Italy to determine, four years later, the responsibilities of this disaster which claimed the lives of 43 people. The shocking images of the collapse of the Genoa bridge, which killed 43 people, have gone around the world. Four years later, an extraordinary trial involving 59 defendants opens Thursday, July 7, in this Italian port city to determine the responsibilities. On August 14, 2018, in pouring rain, the Morandi motorway bridge, an essential axis for local routes and traffic between Italy and France collapsed, throwing dozens of vehicles and their passengers into the void. The tragedy then cast a harsh light on the poor state of transport infrastructure in Italy and the role disorder of the company Autostrade per l’Italia (Aspi), accused of not having maintained the work of art to save money in defiance of security.>> To see: “In pictures: the collapse of the bridge of Genoa, a national disaster””The Morandi Bridge was a ticking time bomb. You could hear the ticking, but you didn’t know when it was going to explode,” said Walter Cotugno, one of the prosecutors, in February. , there is no doubt that the leaders of Autostrade and the engineering company Spea, in charge of maintenance, “were aware of the risk of collapse”, but that they were reluctant to finance works in order to “preserve the dividends” of the shareholders. the magistrates’ investigation is overwhelming: “Between the inauguration (of the bridge) in 1967 and the collapse – therefore 51 years later -, minimal maintenance interventions were not carried out to reinforce the stays of pillar number 9”, which collapsed on the day of the tragedy. A major witness, the new boss and executive of Autostrade since 2015 the general manager of Autostrade at the time, Giovanni Castellucci, left with compensation of 13 million euros, as well as the former boss of Spea Antonino Galata and officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure. They are prosecuted in particular for manslaughter , damage to has transport security and false in public writing. The duration of the trial is estimated at two or three years. For Giovanni Paolo Accinni, one of Giovanni Castellucci’s lawyers, the indictment “will fall like an autumn leaf” if the trial is “fair” and ” protects not only the victims, but also the innocent”.>> To see: “After the collapse of the viaduct, life is struggling to resume in Genoa”But the prosecution will be able to count on a sizeable witness: Roberto Tomasi, successor to Giovanni Castellucci and Autostrade executive since 2015, who shows his desire to turn the page and which could prove cumbersome for his predecessor. At the time of the tragedy, Autostrade belonged to the Atlantia group, controlled by the wealthy Benetton family, which ended up cede its share in May to the State, pushed towards the exit under the pressure of the political class and popular vindictiveness. “My son’s life is priceless, I want a real trial” If their former leaders found on the dock, the companies Autostrade and Spea ec On the other hand, they reached the trial thanks to an amicable agreement concluded with the prosecution, providing for the payment of 29 million euros to the State. For Raffaele Caruso, lawyer for the Committee of relatives of the victims of the Morandi bridge, this pact ” constitutes a first acknowledgment of responsibility” on the part of the two companies. “This is one of the most important trials in recent Italian history, in terms of the number of defendants, the scale of the tragedy, and in terms of the injury inflicted on a whole city”, he told AFP. Only two families of victims refused to accept the compensation offered by Autostrade, which paid out more than 60 million euros in this respect. Egle Possetti, president of the Committee relatives of the victims, declined the offer so as not to lose the possibility of becoming a civil party and of influencing the trial. “I’m sure many, not all, knew the bridge was going to collapse one day, and some pretended not to see it,” she told AFP bitterly. came from Roberto Battiloro, who lost in the tragedy his son Giovanni, a young 29-year-old videographer, and who was offered a million euros: “My son’s life is priceless, I want a real trial.” With AFP