An Italian court has convicted 32 people, including former Autostrade motorway operator chief executive Giovanni Castellucci, over their roles in the 2018 collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa that claimed 43 lives.
The verdict, delivered on Thursday, marks a major milestone in one of Italy’s deadliest infrastructure disaster cases. A total of 57 defendants stood trial, while 25 others were acquitted or cleared of wrongdoing.
Castellucci was found guilty of vehicular homicide and negligence for failing to ensure the safety of the bridge and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Prosecutors accused him of delaying critical maintenance work that could have prevented the tragedy.
The Morandi Bridge, a key motorway linking Italy and France, collapsed during heavy rainfall on August 14, 2018, sending dozens of vehicles plunging to the ground and killing 43 people.
Investigators found that pillar nine of the bridge had not undergone the necessary reinforcement work during its 51 years of operation, despite maintenance being carried out on other sections. The findings concluded that the collapse could have been prevented with proper inspections and repairs.
Among those convicted were former executives and technical staff of Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI), the company responsible for operating nearly half of Italy’s motorway network, and Spea Engineering, which handled bridge maintenance.
Former Spea chief Antonino Galata, ASPI maintenance executive Michele Mitelli and former deputy chief Paolo Berti also received prison sentences ranging from five years and six months to 11 years.
Relatives of the victims welcomed the ruling, describing it as a step towards justice after nearly eight years of legal proceedings.
Lawyers representing some of the convicted defendants said they would appeal the judgment.
Italy’s Deputy Transport Secretary, Edoardo Rixi, said the court’s decision confirmed that the disaster resulted from “serious errors and omissions” rather than unavoidable circumstances.
Autostrade and Spea had previously reached an out-of-court settlement with prosecutors, agreeing to pay €29 million to the Italian state.
At the time of the collapse, Autostrade was owned by the Atlantia Group, controlled by the Benetton family, which later relinquished its stake following public outrage over the disaster.
