GENOA: An Italian court sentenced 32 defendants on Thursday, including the former head of motorway operator Autostrade, for their role in a deadly bridge disaster eight years ago that killed 43 people.
Autostrade's former chief executive, Giovanni Castellucci, was found guilty of vehicular homicide and negligence related to the collapse of the bridge in Genoa — one of the country's worst infrastructure disasters.
The crowded courtroom was packed with relatives of those who plunged to their deaths when the Morandi Bridge — part of a key highway connecting France and Italy — gave way in torrential rain on August 14, 2018.
Castellucci, who was accused of postponing key maintenance work, was sentenced to 12 years behind bars.
The former executive is already serving time for his responsibility in a 2013 accident in which a bus crashed through the barriers of a viaduct, killing 40 people.
"Today, we can say there are those guilty of the murder of our relatives," said Michele Matti Altadonna, whose brother was one of the victims.
"We are here for our loved ones, in their memory," he said.
The findings of the investigation were damning: "Between the inauguration in 1967 and the collapse, i.e., 51 years later, not even minimal maintenance work was carried out to reinforce the stays of pillar number nine".
Work had been carried out on two other pillars, numbers 10 and 11, and was planned for number nine, which came crashing down in morning traffic. — AFP
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