Families of 43 victims await verdict in Genoa bridge disaster

Families of 43 victims await verdict in Genoa bridge disasterImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The 2018 bridge collapse was one of Italy's worst infrastructure disastersByDavide GhiglioneRomePublished1 hour agoOn the morning of 14 August 2018, Claudia Possetti, 47, was in the car with her new husband Andrea, and her two children, aged 12 and 16.The couple had just married and were driving to the Italian Riviera with the youngsters for a holiday when the Morandi bridge in the northern city of Genoa collapsed beneath them.Their car was among those that plunged from the viaduct on to the railway tracks below. The four of them were among 43 people killed in one of Italy's worst infrastructure disasters in decades.Nearly eight years on, Claudia's sister, Egle Possetti, will be among relatives gathering in a Genoa courtroom on Thursday to hear a first-instance verdict in the trial over the collapse. The children's father, who survived them, is also expected to be in court."I feel anxious, worried, very emotional," Egle told the BBC. "After so many years, so many hearings, we may be able to see some light. It would be so important for us to know if someone's been held accountable."Image source, Egle PossettiImage caption, Andrea, Claudia and her children died when the Morandi bridge collapsedThe bridge came down during a summer storm at the height of the holiday season, sending cars and lorries plunging to the ground below.The collapse triggered years of investigation into how the viaduct, built in the 1960s and part of a key route linking Genoa to the French border, had been allowed to fail.Fifty-seven people have stood trial since July 2022. Among them are former executives of toll road operator Autostrade per l'Italia and its parent company Atlantia, engineers from the maintenance firm Spea, and former transport ministry officials. The charges range from multiple manslaughter to falsifying documents. All the defen...