The Latest: Unclear how many are missing in bridge collapse
Italian Interior Minister
Salvini said in
He added that he hoped the number still buried will be small, adding "miracles are still possible."
At least 39 people were killed in Tuesday's collapse.
Separately, local officials say they are taking data from people whose friends or relatives are missing, but that they do not yet know how many cars exactly were on the bridge when it collapsed and cannot extrapolate how many people might be buried in the rubble.
The Italian Cabinet has approved a 12-month state of emergency for
Italian Premier
Conte led an emergency
He said
Conte also called for swift removal of the tons of debris that fell in
About 630 people live in apartment buildings practically under or right next to part of the highway bridge that was left standing after Tuesday's collapse. By Wednesday, they all had been evacuated by authorities.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister
Toninelli said, after emergency workers removed tons of concrete, steel and vehicle debris, "we must think about the demolition of what remains of
He said reconstruction of the key artery should begin "as quickly as possible." The highway bridge was a link between two major highways, one going to
Toninelli said in a Facebook post that due to "serious faults" his ministry had activated procedures to revoke
The holding company that controls Autostrade SRL has taken a hit on the stock market.
A witness to the deadly
A driver identified only as Idris said the truck was saved because another vehicle passed it at the last second, forcing the truck to brake slightly. Just then, Idris said, the passing car "went down."
Idris said the driver of the green truck braked right where the bridge collapsed. He says the driver "went back three meters (yards) then left the motor running and ran. I was behind him, two cars back. I backed up a little, leaving space for other cars. When I saw the thing was so big, that everything had fallen, I took the keys and got out of there."
Speaking in
He said of the holding company that controls Autostrade Per Italia: "instead of investing money for maintenance, they divide the profits and that is why the bridge falls."
— This entry corrects the spelling of the Benetton group.
Cozzi told reporters Wednesday that he didn't know if anyone bore legal responsibility for the collapse that killed at least 39 people but he said "for sure it was not an accident."
Cozzi said there were no pending complaints involving the bridge in recent years, and that they were also checking archives.
But he noted if there had been serious concerns about the safety of the bridge in the prosecutor's office "none of us would have driven over that highway 20 times a month as we do."
Still, the head of
Three French citizens are among dozens of dead in a highway bridge collapse in
The statement says the French government is in touch with Italian authorities to determine if there are other French victims.
Italian authorities say at least 39 were killed in Tuesday's disaster on a highway in
Francis also noted the shock of
Authorities said at least 39 were killed in the bridge's collapse on Tuesday in the northwestern Italian port city.
Francis said: "I am especially thinking of all those tried by the tragedy in
He expressed his "spiritual closeness" to the victims, the injured and their families and the hundreds of people who were forced to flee homes in the area.
He then led thousands of people in the square in a special prayer for the victims and their loved ones.
Italian authorities have raised the number of confirmed deaths to 39 in the
Borrelli said some 1,000 rescuers have been working since after the collapse Tuesday to search for "any possible missing" persons.
He added that 15 people were injured when a 80-meter (260-foot) stretch of highway broke off, sending vehicles plunging from the bridge.
Albanian authorities say that two Albanian men were killed in the collapse of the highway bridge in
Hundreds of thousands of Albanians have moved to
Italian authorities have raised the death toll in the
The Italian city's prefect office announced the updated figure on Wednesday even as rescuers searched through tons of slabs of broken roadbed, smashed concrete chunks and twisted steel for any more survivors.
At least two people were missing.
Many in the city had said the 1967 bridge needed shoring up.
Rescue and recovery efforts continued through the night into the morning in
Rescuers searched through tons of concrete slabs and steel for survivors or bodies from the collapse a day earlier on the eve of Wednesday's summer Ferragosto holiday.
State radio Wednesday quoted the prefect's office confirming a death toll of 35 and denying some news reports that put it at 38.
About a dozen people remained hospitalized in serious condition.
What caused an 80-meter (260-foot) long stretch of highway to break off from the 45-meter (150 foot) high
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