MILAN (Reuters) – Italian police have given prosecutors a list of 13 people who may bear some responsibility for the deadly collapse of a bridge, including top executives of Autostrade, the private-sector firm that ran it, an investigative source said.
A section of the 50-year-old Morandi bridge in the northern city of Genoa collapsed on Aug. 14 sending dozens of cars plunging to the ground and killing 43 people.
The bridge is part of the A10 motorway, which links Genoa to the French border and is managed by toll-road operator Autostrade, a unit of infrastructure group Atlantia.
Genoa prosecutors are investigating the causes of the collapse. A source with the prosecutors’ office on Tuesday said that so far nobody had been formally placed under investigation, but that this was expected to happen soon.
The investigative source said that the list of 13 people included top executives of Autostrade as well as senior officials at Italy’s transportation ministry.
Both Autostrade and the ministry declined to comment.
Autostrade, which has come under fire from Italy’s government for the disaster, has said in the past that it carried out checks on the bridge as required by law.
Under Italian rules, the motorway operator is responsible for maintenance, while the ministry has a supervisory role.
Autostrade had been planning to strengthen the stays of the bridge and had launched a tender in April for the contract after obtaining the necessary approval from the ministry.
