A court in Italy has sentenced several former motorway executives and public officials to prison over the 2018 collapse of Genoa’s Morandi Bridge, ruling that years of inadequate maintenance contributed to one of the country’s deadliest infrastructure disasters.
An Italian court has handed lengthy prison sentences to senior former motorway executives over the collapse of Genoa’s Morandi Bridge, nearly eight years after the tragedy claimed 43 lives.
The most severe sentence was given to Giovanni Castellucci, the former chief executive of motorway operator Autostrade per l’Italia (Aspi), who was jailed for 12 years after being found responsible for failures linked to the disaster.
Although prosecutors had sought a significantly longer prison term, the court concluded that Castellucci bore substantial responsibility for the neglect that preceded the bridge’s collapse.
Another senior motorway executive, Michele Donferri Mitelli, received an 11-year prison sentence, while former Aspi deputy chief Paolo Berti was sentenced to five and a half years, considerably less than prosecutors had requested.
The Morandi Bridge collapsed during a heavy rainstorm on 14 August 2018, at the height of Italy’s summer holiday season.
A large section of the motorway bridge suddenly gave way, sending dozens of cars and trucks plunging to the ground below and killing 43 people.
The disaster shocked Italy and triggered a sweeping investigation into the country’s ageing infrastructure and maintenance standards.
Castellucci, who is already serving a separate six-year prison sentence over a fatal motorway incident in 2013, was among 57 defendants tried in the Genoa case.
Collectively, prosecutors had requested prison terms totalling about 400 years, arguing that those responsible repeatedly ignored warnings about the deteriorating condition of the bridge and delayed essential maintenance work.
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Throughout the trial, all of the defendants denied any wrongdoing.
Defence lawyers argued that the collapse was primarily caused by flaws in the bridge’s original design rather than failures in maintenance.
They pointed specifically to the bridge’s unique cable system, in which critical support cables were encased in concrete, making deterioration difficult to detect.
Prosecutors, however, maintained that numerous warning signs had been overlooked over many years and that proper inspections and repairs could have prevented the catastrophe.
The trial also included former engineers from maintenance company Spea, officials from Italy’s transport ministry and executives linked to Aspi’s former parent company, Atlantia.
Former Spea chief executive Antonino Galatà was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, while former transport ministry motorway director Mauro Coletta received a five-year sentence.
For many relatives of the victims, the verdicts marked an important moment after years of legal proceedings.
Emmanuel Diaz, whose brother Henry died in the collapse, told Italian television he was “very satisfied” with the court’s decision.
Egle Possetti, who lost her sister and several members of her family in the tragedy, described Castellucci’s 12-year sentence as “acceptable.”
Castellucci was not present in court when Judge Paolo Lepri delivered the verdicts.
On the eve of the ruling, current Aspi chief executive Arrigo Giana issued the company’s first public apology for the disaster.
He acknowledged that the actions and decisions of individuals within the organisation had left “indelible scars” on the victims’ families and on Italy as a whole.
The verdict closes one of Italy’s highest-profile corporate negligence trials, but the Morandi Bridge collapse continues to serve as a lasting reminder of the consequences of failing to properly maintain critical public infrastructure.
