Genoa bridge: according to a former official, the risk of collapse was known before the tragedy

A former managing director of Edizione, the Benetton family’s holding company, admitted on Monday that as early as 2010, eight years before the deadly collapse of the Genoa bridge, the group knew there was a risk of collapse, without concluding any consequences.

“It turned out that the bridge had an original design flaw, which caused the technicians to be puzzled as to its ability to remain upright,” Gianni Mione recounted as a witness during the trial on the play, which took place in court. Used to be. in Genoa, northern Italy.

“I asked if there was someone to certify the safety and I was told + we will certify it ourselves +”, Mr Mion declared, referring to a meeting of the leaders of the company Autostrade per l’Italia (ASP) Did. by Benetton.

“However, nobody thought the bridge would collapse and we were convinced. I didn’t say anything, but I was worried. I didn’t do anything and that’s my big regret,” said M Mione, quoted by Italian agencies.

On August 14, 2018, in torrential rain, the Morandi motorway bridge, an essential hub for local travel and traffic between Italy and France, collapsed, plunging dozens of vehicles and their passengers into the void and killing 43 people.

Mr. Mione’s testimony aroused the indignation of Eagle Posetti, chairman of the Committee of Relatives of the Victims. “A person cannot be silent with his role, it is unacceptable,” she remarked.

“We hope that someone will pay and lead by example so that this kind of situation does not happen in Italy,” he added.

Another witness identified for his part, Roberto Tomasi, general manager of Autostrade since 2019 and company executive since 2015, said “the risk coefficients attributed to some of the structures were significantly lower than the actual state of the infrastructure itself”.

Referring to the role of Spee, the engineering company responsible for the maintenance, he assured that “the behavior of some of its employees was unacceptable. We do not consider it credible,” he said.

If several former leaders find themselves in the dock, the companies Autostrade and Spa have escaped trial thanks to an amicable settlement concluded with prosecutors, which provides for a payment of 29 million euros to the state.