At least 39 dead in bridge collapse in Genoa, Italy, others injured | Dump Truck Company

Photos courtesy of Italian State Police.

At least 22 people were killed and others injured today when a section of a giant highway bridge collapsed today in the Italian port city of Genoa, the government has confirmed.

The death toll could climb as rescue workers sift through tons of concrete that fell. At least three dozen vehicles, along with buildings and streets, were involved when the tons of concrete came down, published reports say.

The bridge on the A10 Motorway linking Italy and France fell about noon, taking cars and trucks with it, onto a railway line, streets and buildings more than 300 feet below.

About 200 meters, or about 650 feet, of the bridge called Ponte Morandi fell in what’s become “an immense tragedy,” the nation’s transportation minister and other officials are saying on Italian TV.

There was a violent thunderstorm when the bridge fell, and a pillar apparently gave way, according to Italy’s state police. There are unconfirmed reports that the bridge, which had some problems in the past, was hit by lightning.

Recovery efforts are underway in Genoa, Italy, after a large span of a highway bridge fell during a storm, crushing cars and trapping victims.

This is the latest in a string of bridge collapses in Italy, “a country prone to damage from seismic activity but where infrastructure generally is showing the effects of economic stagnation,” reports the Paris-based news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).

“The Morandi bridge gave way over a river bed and railway tracks in a densely inhabited area,” reports NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli. “The bridge is a viaduct that runs over shopping centers, factories, some homes, the Genoa-Milan railway line and the Polcevera River.”