MILAN (AP) — Family members of the 43 people killed when Genoa’s Morandi highway bridge collapsed nearly eight years ago are expected to pack a courtroom Thursday for verdicts in the trial of 57 defendants charged in a disaster that exposed deep failures in the maintenance of Italy’s infrastructure.
The defendants include former executives of highway operator Autostrade per L’Italia, experts from its engineering company SPEA and former officials from Italy’s Infrastructure Ministry.
Most face charges, including negligent disaster and multiple counts of manslaughter stemming from alleged failures to maintain the bridge, which was part of a main route linking northern Italy with the French Riviera.
On the morning of Aug. 14, 2018, a 200-meter (650-foot) section of the bridge gave way during a rainstorm, sending dozens of vehicles plunging to the ground.
Images of the collapsed bridge were seen around the world and shocked Italians on one of Italy’s busiest travel days, as millions headed out for the traditional Aug. 15 Ferragosto holiday that marks the peak summer vacation season.
Prosecutors have argued that years of maintenance neglect led to the collapse, and demanded combined sentences totaling nearly 400 years for all of the defendants. The defendants deny wrongdoing and say the fault was caused by a construction defect.
The verdicts and sentencing will cap a trial that spanned more than 280 hearings over four years.
“Our expectation is to feel our pain recognized ... and to have it acknowledged that this did not happen by chance, but because of serious failures in maintenance,” said Raffaele Caruso, one of the lawyers representing victims.
Considered an engineering marvel when it opened in 1967, the Morandi featured three A-shaped concrete pylons and concrete-encased stay cables.
Caruso, who represents the family members of three victims, said that the trial showed that warning signs about defects in the pylon that collapsed had existed for decades. He cited maintenance on the other two starting in 1993 that was never extended to the third.
“From 1993 onward, the problem was known. We had three identical pylons. Two had already shown the same defect, and no one seriously asked whether the third one had it as well,” Caruso said.
The current Autostrade chief executive, Arrigo Giana, issued a public apology Thursday in an open letter published in major Italian dailies.
“The actions and decisions of some people left indelible scars,’’ said Giana, who joined Autostrade as CEO last year. “Offering today the apology that was not made then is, for us, a moral imperative that goes beyond establishing legal responsibility and the course of justice toward the truth.”
Autostrade and its subsidiary reached a deal on corporate liability earlier in the proceedings, paying roughly 30 million euros ($34 million) in financial penalties. The agreement spared the companies from a trial as corporate defendants and potentially much harsher sanctions, including exclusion from public contracts.
The settlements were reached after the companies adopted new compliance procedures aimed at preventing similar crimes, and after victims were compensated.
A new bridge designed by Genoa-born Italian architect Renzo Piano opened in 2020, spanning a memorial to the victims of the Morandi Bridge collapse.
FILE - A vehicle sits short of a section of the Morandi highway bridge that collapsed on Aug. 15, 2018, in Genoa, northern Italy. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
FILE - Cars are blocked on the Morandi highway bridge after a section of it collapsed, Aug. 14, 2018, in Genoa, northern Italy. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Head coach Dave Rennie has backed rookie flyhalf Ruben Love by naming him to start in New Zealand's Nations Championship test against Ireland on Saturday, a match which will be the All Blacks' sternest test of the year to date.
Once again, Rennie has omitted 145-test veteran and World Cup-winner Beauden Barrett from his matchday 23.
Rennie has also kept confidence in winger Josh Moorby, who will start after making an impressive debut off the bench in the win over Italy last week. Backrower Anton Segner, who became the first player born in Germany to play for the All Blacks when he made his debut from the bench against Italy, is included on the bench again.
Rennie has handed veteran lock Patrick Tuipulotu his first start of the season and has moved Tupo Vaa'i, who played at lock against Italy, to the side of the scrum.
There are five changes to the starting 15 that beat Italy 47-17 last week, and nine changes to the 23 that beat France 34-32 in the first round of the championship.
Ireland and New Zealand are unbeaten after two rounds of the Nations Championship.
New Zealand will be attempting to defend a 52-test, 32-year unbeaten record at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday.
“Ireland has been one of the best sides in the world for a number of years now,” Rennie said. “They are very experienced and well-coached and will have belief on the back of their recent success here. We are well aware of the challenge they pose.
“We have selected a strong team that allows some of the combinations we have tested to continue building, and rewards players who have impressed over the last two rounds.”
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell made nine changes to the lineup that beat Japan 36-20 last week, restoring his side to full strength.
Rob Boloucoune returns on the right wing after missing Ireland's wins over Japan and Australia because of a hamstring injury. Center Garry Ringrose, flyhalf Sam Prendergast, fullback Hugo Keenan, scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park, backrower Josh van der Flier, lock Joe McCarthy, hooker and captain Dan Sheehan and prop Tadhg Furlong also are back in the starting lineup after missing last week.
Six players remain from the win over Japan, while 13 remain from the team that beat Australia 33-21.
Rennie has boosted the All Blacks bench by name winger Caleb Clarke and backrower Peter Lakai, who both started against France, among the reserves on Saturday.
“We know how important our bench will be against a team as tenacious as Ireland, so have selected players who we know are capable of making an impact and influencing the course of the game,” Rennie said.
Wingers Fehi Fineanganofo and Leroy Carter both were unavailable for the All Blacks because of shoulder injuries, hastening Moorby's promotion to the starting side.
Tyrel Lomax again has been favored at tighthead prop over Fletcher Newell.
Lineups:
New Zealand: Damian McKenzie, Will Jordan, Quinn Tupaea, Jordie Barrett, Josh Moorby, Ruben Love, Cam Roigard; Ardie Savea (captain), Luke Jacobson, Tupou Vaa'i, Patrick Tuipulotu, Josh Lord, Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor, Ethan de Groot. Reserves: Asafo Aumua, Xavier Numia, Fletcher Newell, Anton Segner, Peter Lakai, Cortez Ratima, Anton Lienert-Brown, Caleb Clarke.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan, Rob Baloucoune, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jimmy O'Brien, Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan (captain), Tom O'Toole. Reserves: Ronan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Thomas Clarkson, Nick Timoney, Sean Jansen, Craig Casey, Ciaran Frawley, Bundee Aki.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
New Zealand's Josh Moorby fends off a defender during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)
Juan Ignacio Brex, centre, of Italy is tackled New Zealand's George Bower and Anton Segner during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Masanori Udagawa/Photosport via AP)
New Zealand's Ruben Love sits on the sideline after he was given yellow card that was rescinded during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and Italy in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (Marty Melville/Photosport via AP)
New Zealand's Ruben Love kicks a conversion during the Nations Championship rugby international between the All Blacks and France in Christchurch New Zealand, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (Craig Butland/Photosport via AP)
