A motorway bridge collapsed on Tuesday over the northern Italian port city of Genoa in what the transport minister said was likely to be "an immense tragedy".

 

The head of the local ambulance service said there were "dozens of dead", Italian news agency Adnkronos reported.

 

 

 

 

The local fire brigade said also victims were likely after the bridge collapsed at around 11:30 a.m. (0930 GMT) during torrential rainfall.

 

Italian television showed images of the collapsed bridge, which was built on the A10 toll motorway in the 1960s. Restructuring work on the bridge was carried out in 2016.

 

A witness told Sky Italia television he saw "eight or nine" vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed in what he said was an "apocalyptic scene".

 

Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said in a tweet that he was "following with great apprehension what seems like an immense tragedy".

 

Italy’s far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini said he was following events in Genoa “up to the minute” and thanked the emergency services for their swift response.

 

A fire service spokesperson told AFP that the bridge had mostly fallen on rail tracks 100 meterss below and that “cars and trucks” had fallen with the rubble.

 

“Firefighters are working together and teams of rescuers and police sniffer dogs have been mobilised,” emergency services said on Twitter.