Ex-CEO jailed for 12 years over Italian bridge tragedy
An Italian court sentenced former Atlantia CEO Giovanni Castellucci to 12 years in prison for the fatal 2018 collapse of a motorway bridge in the port city of Genoa.
Atlantia was the controlling shareholder of motorway operator Autostrade per l’Italia at the time of the disaster, which killed 43 people when their vehicles fell from an overpass.
Relatives of the victims packed the court to seek responsibility for the disaster and to hear the outcome of a trial that has become a symbol of the slow progress of justice in complex Italian criminal cases.
According to the Italian legal system, the decision of the first instance court can be appealed at least twice.
Castellucci is already in prison, serving a six-year sentence for another fatal incident on a viaduct in southern Italy in 2013, and was not in court to hear the verdict.
57 people, including company managers, engineers and transport ministry officials, were tried.
The most serious charges include multiple counts of manslaughter and criminal negligence.
The collapse of the then 51-year-old Morandi bridge during a summer storm on the eve of a national holiday shocked Italy and triggered years of research into the management and maintenance of its aging infrastructure.
While the 50-meter-high section of the bridge collapsed, approximately 35 vehicles were dragged into the warehouses underneath and the river bed.
The disaster caused a dispute between the Atlantia holding company, controlled by the Benetton family, and the then government, which resulted in the sale of Atlantia’s controlling shares in Autostrade.
Autostrade’s current chairman published an open letter on Wednesday, reiterating the company’s determination to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again.
“I want to apologize to the families of the victims, the people of Genoa and all Italians for the suffering caused by the tragic Morandi disaster; I am aware that our gesture can never erase their suffering,” said Autostrade CEO Arrigo Giana.
Prosecutors allege years of poor maintenance, ignored warning signs and delayed safety work contributed to the collapse, alleging vital work was delayed while profits continued to be made and distributed.
Defense lawyers reject this theory.
They claim that the disaster was caused by an original design flaw in the bridge’s number nine support cable, which failed and that no maintenance program could have prevented the tragedy.
