In Italy, officials squabble over blame in bridge collapse that killed 39

Associated Press

GENOA, ITALY

As more bodies were pulled Wednesday from a mountain of jagged concrete and twisted steel left by a highway bridge collapse that killed 39, prosecutors focused on possible design flaws and past maintenance of the heavily used span, and politicians squabbled over blame.

Motorists, meanwhile, recounted miraculous escapes and the horror of seeing others plunge over the edge.

As a second night descended on the site where part of the Morandi Bridge plunged some 150 feet, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini declined to say how many people might still be buried in the debris where about 1,000 rescue workers searched for victims.

The collapse occurred about midday Tuesday, the eve of Italy’s biggest summer holiday, when traffic was particularly busy on the 51-year-old span that links two highways.

Salvini declined to say how many people are still missing, and he added that trying to locate them was particularly difficult, due to the holiday.

He said he hoped the death toll would not rise.

“Miracles are still possible,” Salvini said.