Former Italian Highway Executive Sentenced to 12 Years for Genoa Bridge Collapse

Giovanni Castellucci, the former CEO of Italy's highway operator Autostrade per l'Italia, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his responsibility in the 2018 collapse of the Ponte Morandi bridge in Genoa. The catastrophic failure killed 43 people and left approximately 600 residents homeless after their homes were deemed unsafe due to proximity to unstable bridge pillars. The court found Castellucci, 66, guilty of multiple charges, including falsifying safety reports and causing the disaster through negligence. Prosecutors had argued that Castellucci was aware of the bridge's structural deficiencies since 2009 and ran the company with a focus on profit over safety. Castellucci, who is already imprisoned for a separate fatal bus accident, did not attend the sentencing. His defense had claimed the collapse was due to an unforeseeable structural defect. The trial involved 57 defendants and lasted four years. The collapse of the Morandi Bridge, which had stood for over half a century, severed a vital link for the city, dividing Genoa for two years until a new bridge, designed by Renzo Piano and featuring 43 light masts to commemorate the victims, was completed in 2020.

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I feel responsible, but not guilty.