Italian court begins delivering verdicts in trial over 2018 bridge collapse that killed dozens
GENOA, Italy: An Italian court has begun delivering verdicts for 57 defendants charged in the collapse of Genoa’s Morandi highway bridge that killed 43 people nearly eight years ago.
The defendants include former executives of highway operator Autostrade per L’Italia, experts from its engineering company SPEA and former officials from Italy’s Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.
Prosecutors argued that years of maintenance neglect led to the collapse, and demanded combined sentences totaling nearly 400 years for all of the defendants. The defendants deny wrongdoing and say the fault was caused by a construction defect.
Family members of the 43 people killed when Genoa’s Morandi highway bridge collapsed nearly eight years ago gathered at the courthouse Thursday, where deliberations were underway in the trial of 57 defendants charged in a disaster that exposed deep failures in the maintenance of Italy’s infrastructure.
