Bridge collapse in Italy kills dozens

At least 30 people were killed when a major bridge collapsed near the northern Italian city of Genoa, on Tuesday afternoon leading to vehicles falling some 100m (328ft). 

Many others were seriously injured, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said, after part of the Morandi Bridge on the A10 motorway caved in around midday local time (10:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

About 200 firefighters were deployed to the scene, with the death toll expected to rise.

The cause of the disaster was not immediately clear, although weather services in the region had issued a storm warning Tuesday morning.

Photographs from the scene show huge sections of rubble on the ground underneath the middle of the bridge. reports BBC.

The collapsed section had mostly fallen on rail tracks below, officials told the AFP news agency, adding that cars and trucks had also fallen.

The bridge, built in the 1960s, is known as the Morandi bridge. The missing section was dozens of metres in length, and ran across the span of the Polcevera stream.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica described that part of the city as “densely inhabited”.

The structure collapsed shortly before noon local time (10:00 GMT) during heavy rain. Video shared by the police of the incident suggests a major vertical support, as well as the road itself, was part of the collapse.