Rescue teams continue search for Italy bridge collapse survivors

Rescue teams were continuing on Thursday their search for possible survivors among the rubble of a bridge that collapsed in Genoa in northwestern Italy, killing at least 39 and injuring 16.

Although there were still no official figures on the number of people missing, Italian authorities did not rule out a possibility of a dozen bodies trapped under the rubble.

The search and rescue operations were concentrated among the cement blocks of the pillar, which collapsed along the left bank of the Polcevera River, Efe news reported.

Meanwhile, 15 people continued to be hospitalized in the San Martino hospital, nine of whom were in a serious condition. Six hundred and sixty-four people and 331 families were evacuated from the houses located under the bridge.

State funerals are expected to be held on Saturday for some of the victims, among whom were four French tourists and two young Albanian nationals working in Italy. Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation into the incident.

A roughly 100-metre section of Morandi Bridge collapsed amid torrential rains on Tuesday, sending dozens of vehicles crashing onto a riverbed, railway lines and two warehouses.

The government on Wednesday said it would be revoking concessions to Autostrade per l'Italia, the company that manages the country's highways, following the accident.

--IANS

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