Antonino Galofaro / Photo credit: MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP
Five years after the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa, which killed 43 people in its fall, the trial of those responsible for the viaduct and the Benetton family, owner of the company which managed the work, has begun. With a common thread question: could the tragedy have been avoided? Possibly, according to the first elements of the trial.
CCTV images are worthy of a disaster movie. Five years ago, on August 14, 2018, the Morandi bridge in Genoa collapsed, taking with it the vehicles present on the infrastructure. Nearly 43 people lost their lives in this tragedy, and more than 600 people living nearby had to be moved.
But could the tragedy of the Morandi bridge have been avoided? This is what emerges from the trial which started a year ago. Those responsible for the viaduct and the Benetton family, owner of the company that managed it, were aware of these construction defects according to several witnesses. Among them: Gianni Mion, close to the Benettons and board member of the company that managed the Morandi bridge. A telephone call with his lawyer, with unequivocal remarks, was intercepted by the police and made public in the press.
“It was our responsibility to rebuild this bridge”
“We knew that the bridge had a design problem. When we bought the company, we said that it suited us. It was our responsibility to redo this bridge”, can we hear during this telephone exchange.
Blaming the designers of the bridge 60 years ago is the line of defense for the 59 defendants, sometimes angering the families of the victims. “The bridge did not collapse because of a design problem. It must be clear and limpid. The bridge has not been maintained properly”, assures Egle Possetti, who lost his sister in the drama. The defendants will be heard by magistrates for the first time next month.