Five years later, the images of the Morandi bridge in crumbs remain etched in people’s minds. This morning of August 14, 2018, in torrential rain, the busiest bridge in Genoa collapsed before the eyes of the inhabitants, resulting in the death of 43 people, including four French people. “What will remain in my memory forever are the shrill cries from under the rubble of people crying out for help, the totally flattened cars floating there and the bodies of those who lost their lives”, testified then to the ‘Agence France Presse (AFP) Federico Romeo, the mayor of the northern area of Genoa.
This Monday August 14, 2023, as every year since the tragedy, the sirens of the boats and the bells of the churches resounded throughout the port city of northern Italy, reports the daily Il Secolo XIX. A commemorative mass was held in the church of San Bartolomeo della Certosa. Political tributes to the relatives of the victims are also increasing. “The Republic renews and strengthens the feeling of closeness and solidarity with the families of the victims and with all those who have seen their lives turned upside down by a disaster as serious as it is unacceptable,” said Sergio Mattarella, the Italian President, in a speech. on the occasion of the fifth anniversary, relayed by the Italian daily. The collapse remains “a wound still open”, for his part recalled on the spot the governor of the Liguria region, Giovanni Toti, quoted by Il Secolo XIX.
In addition to the indelible mark it left on Italians, the tragedy shone the spotlight on the poor state of transport infrastructure in Italy. “The passage of time does not diminish the weight of responsibility for what happened. And it is the responsibility to do justice […] with the definitive observation of the circumstances, faults, malfunctions, omissions, ”said Sergio Mattarella.
The trial, which opened a little over a year ago, on July 7, 2022, aims to bring justice to the families of the 43 victims. But “in Italy, the trials are long and unfortunately often have outcomes unfavorable to the victims”, warned, at that time, Egle Possetti, the president of the Committee of relatives of the victims of the bridge. “We just hope that someone will pay and lead by example so that there are no more situations like this in Italy,” she added.
The charges against the 59 defendants are heavy: multiple homicides, breach of transport security and forgery in public writing. On the bench of the defendants, is in particular the company Autostrade per l’Italia (Aspi), accused of not having maintained the work of art, to the detriment of the safety of the users. The company was then owned by the Atlantia group, controlled by the billionaire Benetton family, whose image has since seriously tarnished in Italy. Under pressure, in 2020, the Benettons ended up ceding 8 billion euros to the state to compensate the city of Genoa before embarking on an investment plan to modernize and secure the motorway network. “We should have apologized immediately” after the tragedy, acknowledged in January 2023 Alessandro Benetton, the new president of the family financial holding, Edizione.
In court, Gianni Mion, the former managing director of this holding company, then admitted on May 22 that as early as 2010, eight years before the tragedy, the group knew that the risk of collapse was real. “It turned out that the bridge had an original design flaw, causing the technicians to be puzzled as to its ability to remain upright,” admitted Gianni Mion. “However, no one thought the bridge was going to collapse and we were reassured. I didn’t say anything, but I was worried. I did nothing and it is my great regret,” he continued.
But to preserve its relations with the public administration, the Aspi company offered compensation of 30 million euros for the civil parties, accepted both by them and by the prosecution, informs the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. After a short summer break, the trial will resume on September 11. The last prosecution witnesses will be heard, then they will give way to the hearing of the civil parties. The first verdict is expected by the end of 2024.
Until the construction of a new viaduct, inaugurated on August 3, 2020, the traffic of many roads and that of the railway line connecting the port have been cut off. 556 residents had also been evacuated as a precaution. The district was therefore gradually emptied of its inhabitants; “for sale” posters quickly piled up on the windows of surrounding buildings. “The historic stores have almost all closed”, regretted to AFP Massimiliano Braibanti, president of the defense committee of the zone. The collapse of the Morandi bridge thus severely damaged Italian confidence in the safety of Italian infrastructure.
Since then, the Italian political class has recalled the responsibility of the State in this disaster and has ensured that it is doing everything possible to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, notably declared on August 14 that “the culture of safety and maintenance must be supported at all sites so that what happened on August 14, 2018 does not happen again. more “. “The maintenance of our infrastructure and the construction of new safe and efficient public works remain a priority,” said Luigi Sbarra, a senior Italian trade unionist on the social network X.
This fear about the security of civil infrastructure has largely crossed the Italian border, to reach France in particular. A report delivered in 2019 is particularly concerned about the failure of the monitoring and maintenance of the country’s structures. Senator (Les Centristes) Hervé Maurey, who chaired the drafting of this study, greets Le Figaro with “an awareness” but always warns of a lack of means up to the challenge.
