43 Dead After Bridge Collapse — Former Highway Chief Sentenced to Prison

Here's what it's all about

• Eight years after the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, the former head of the Italian highway authority was sentenced to twelve years in prison.
• In the disaster in August 2018, 43 people lost their lives, many others were injured, and hundreds lost their homes.
• The court also found other former managers guilty. The prosecution accused them of ignoring safety deficiencies for years despite warning signs.

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It was a disaster in the middle of summer, in the heart of the city, during rush hour: Eight years after the spectacular collapse of a highway bridge in Genoa, northern Italy, which claimed the lives of 43 people, the main defendant has been sentenced to twelve years in prison.

A court in the port city found Giovanni Castellucci, the former head of Italy’s highway authority, guilty. The 66-year-old was not present when the verdict was handed down: he is already in prison for a fatal bus accident on another highway. The court also handed down prison sentences of several years to other officials.

600 people lost their homes

In Genoa, on August 14, 2018, at 11:36 a.m., the Ponte Morandi bridge—which had spanned the city for more than half a century—suddenly collapsed. Over a stretch of 200 meters, the roadway plummeted to the ground because one of the piers had failed. Cars and trucks were swept 45 meters down. Experts concluded that the cable-stayed bridge, which opened in 1967, had sustained severe damage due to inadequate maintenance. The trial of a total of 57 defendants lasted four years.

The disaster claimed the lives not only of drivers who were on the bridge but also of several people on the ground. They were killed by falling pieces of concrete. In addition, 16 people were injured. About 600 residents lost their homes. Several houses had to be demolished because they were located beneath bridge piers that were in imminent danger of collapsing. The remaining sections of the Ponte Morandi—named after its builder, Riccardo Morandi—were eventually demolished in a controlled blast.

Because the bridge in Genoa was the main link between the port, the airport, and the city center, the city—with its nearly 600,000 residents—was effectively split in two for two years. Since August 2020, a new bridge has stood in the same spot, designed by the renowned architect Renzo Piano, a native of Genoa, and erected in record time. It features 43 light poles—one for each victim.

Prosecutors describe top executive as an autocrat

The prosecution had sought a sentence of 18 years and 6 months for Castellucci. It accused the former top executive of having known about the defects as early as 2009. The indictment described him as an autocrat who ran the company as if it were his “kingdom.” Profit had been more important to him than a safe infrastructure. The defense, on the other hand, argued that there was no detectable structural defect in one of the pillars. Castellucci himself said, “I feel responsible, but not guilty.”

Despite massive public pressure, he did not step down as head of the highway company Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI) until a year after the disaster—in exchange for a severance package of 13 million euros. He has since been sentenced to six years in prison for another accident on an ASPI highway. In that incident, which occurred in southern Italy in 2013, 40 people were killed when a bus crashed through the guardrails on a bridge.

The Benetton family's reputation is also taking a hit

The collapse of the Morandi Bridge also resulted in the Benetton family—known internationally primarily for its advertising campaigns featuring colorful sweaters—losing control of Italy’s highway network. The government forced the operating company to be renationalized. This also dealt a serious blow to Benetton’s reputation.

In total, more than 50 defendants stood trial, including other employees of the highway company, engineers who were supposed to be responsible for safety, and representatives of the Ministry of Transportation. The former number three at ASPI was sentenced to eleven years in prison. Two other former managers were each sentenced to five and a half years in prison. The charges included, among others, negligent homicide, document forgery, and failure to perform maintenance.

A Belated Apology

Arrigo Giana, the current head of the operating company, had publicly apologized to the bereaved families shortly before the trial ended. In a letter published by the daily newspaper *Corriere della Sera*, he wrote: “Let’s break the silence.”

Like millions of others, he had watched the events unfold on television at the time. “I kept asking myself how it was possible not to apologize immediately for what had happened. Another incomprehensible wound.” The victims’ families welcomed the apology—even if it came very late.

A spokeswoman for the victims' families, Egle Possetti, welcomed the verdict against Castellucci. She said the court's decision was “understandable.” She refrained from offering further comments. She said they wanted to wait until all the verdicts had been read aloud first.