Morandi Bridge Collapse: Ex-CEO Castellucci Sentenced to 12 Years

A court in Italy has sentenced Giovanni Castellucci, the former CEO of the company that operated the Morandi Bridge, to twelve years in prison. The verdict comes after a four-year trial concerning the 2018 collapse of the bridge in Genoa, which tragically claimed the lives of 43 people. Castellucci, who was the director general of Atlantia, the majority shareholder of the bridge operator Autostrade per l’Italia, is already serving time in prison. He was previously convicted for a 2013 bus accident in southern Italy where a bus broke through a bridge railing, plunging into the depths and killing 40 people. The Morandi Bridge collapsed on August 14, 2018, when a pillar gave way, causing the roadway of the busy structure to crumble. Dozens of vehicles fell into the abyss below. Investigators noted that "not even minimal maintenance measures" had been taken since the bridge's inauguration in 1967 to reinforce the steel components of the bridge pillar.