Italy court finds 32 people guilty over deadly Genoa bridge collapse

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 told AFP.

Legal teams for some of the defendants, including Castellucci, said they would appeal the ruling.

But Altadonna said "for the four children my brother left behind... we will not give up, we will not give up until the Supreme Court".

- 'Could have been avoided' -

Under Italian law, judges will have to publish the reasoning for their decision within six months. 

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.

Raffaele Caruso, a lawyer for the victims, said the Morandi bridge had not collapsed "by chance."

"This collapse, as we have always said and as the prosecutor’s office, above all, has always said, could have been avoided."

Most of the defendants were executives and technicians from Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), which runs almost half of the country's motorway network, and engineering company Spea, in charge of maintenance.

Besides Castellucci, they included the former head of Spea, Antonino Galata, as well as officials from the infrastructure ministry.

ASPI's executive in charge of maintenance, Michele Mitelli, was sentenced to 11 years, while the group's number two, Paolo Berti, received five years and six months. 

- 'Errors, omissions' -

Italy's deputy transport secretary, Edoardo Rixi, wrote that Thursday's ruling marked an "important step on the path of truth and justice". 

"The collapse was not a stroke of fate, but the result of serious errors and omissions by those who had a duty to ensure safety. It is right that responsibility has finally been established," wrote Rixi on social media. 

The defence's main argument was that the bridge had a hidden construction defect, namely corrosion of its cables, and it was this that caused its collapse, not a lack of maintenance.

Lawyers for Castellucci wrote in a note following the verdict that the court had erroneously relied on a theory that "equates liability with hierarchical position", noting that the ex-CEO had taken "every initiative deemed necessary for the safety of the infrastructure". 

"Today it is considered appropriate to assign personal criminal liability to the CEO of a company who did nothing other than rely on the best engineering specialists in the field," they wrote.

Autostrade and Spea reached an out-of-court settlement with the public prosecutor's office, which provides for a payment of 29 million euros ($30 million) to the state.

At the time of the tragedy, Autostrade belonged to the Atlantia group, controlled by the wealthy Benetton family, but faced with popular indignation the family subsequently gave up its stake to the state.

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© Agence France-Presse