“The original design of the bridge turned out to be flawed, leaving the technicians confused about its ability to stay upright,” Gianni Mion testified during the trial of the play in court. Genoa, in northern Italy.
“I asked if there was anyone to certify safety and was told ‘we will certify ourselves’,” said Mione, referring to a meeting of Autostrada executives at Benetton-owned L’Italia (SP) at the time.
“However, no one thought the bridge would collapse, we were relieved. I didn’t say anything, but I was worried. I didn’t do anything, that’s my great regret,” Mione said, quoted by Italian agencies.
On August 14, 2018, in pouring rain, the Morandi motorway bridge, a vital axis for local travel and traffic between Italy and France, collapsed, throwing dozens of vehicles and their passengers into the void and killing 43 people.
Mr. Mione’s testimony drew the ire of Egle Possetti, president of the victims’ relatives group. “A person in his role cannot remain calm, this is unacceptable,” he opined.
“We hope that someone will pay and lead by example so that there are no situations like this in Italy,” he added.
“The risk coefficients attributed to some structures were significantly lower than the actual condition of the infrastructure”, Roberto Tomasi, general manager of Autostraat since 2019 and company administrator since 2015, recognized another witness.
Referring to the role of engineering firm Spee, which is responsible for maintenance, he assured that “the behavior of some of its employees was unacceptable”. We don’t find it credible,” he said.
While several former leaders found themselves in the dock, the companies Autostrade and Spee escaped prosecution and agreed to a plea agreement with the prosecution, paying the government 29 million euros.
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