Italy's government headed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte put a surmounting political pressure on the toll road company, Autostrade, putting blame on the collapse of a portion of a motorway bridge which claimed the lives of 39 people, as confirmed on Thursday.
A portion of the Morandi bridge, a half-century old structure which links to the port city of Genoa with southern France, fell on Tuesday. More than 30 cars and several cargo trucks plunged 45 meters onto the riverbed below, a report said.
Crushed underneath the huge chunks of concrete are passengers and drivers who were reportedly on their way to work during the accident.
In a press briefing made a day after the unfortunate event, the Italian PM said that the government is now calling on the revocation of the contract given to Autostrade per I'Italia. The firm was commissioned to operate and manage the 2,855 km-stretch of Italian toll highway.
The deal, which is set to expire in 2038, has generated more than 3.6 billion Euros in revenues for the company.
Conte added that the toll operator's main responsibility was to ensure the safety of motorists passing through. It is expected of the company to take the necessary measures to make sure that the integrity of the infrastructure was not compromised which in turn, could have prevented the disaster.
As revealed over at Channel News Asia, Autostrade has been cutting down on its investments to maintain the bridge, an accusation to which the concerned party blatantly denied.
The report added that shares in Atlantia, which is the holding company of the toll operator, plummeted to 22 percent on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the office of the Interior Ministry led by Matteo Salvini, ordered Autostrade to shell out USD$570 million (500 million Euros) as reparation to the damages and to offer aid to the families of victims.
As previously reported, the Italian government has pulled out 5 million Euros from the country's emergency fund to deal with the aftermath of the bridge disaster.
On the part of Autostrade, the Financial Times cited the company's statement saying that it was "confident of being able to demonstrate that it has always correctly fulfilled its obligations as a concessionaire."
The road operator reiterates that they have carried out their responsibilities of monitoring and maintaining the structure "on the basis of the best international standards."
Autostrade added that as of this early stage, it is yet impossible to pinpoint the root cause of the collapse.
Search, rescue and clearing operations on the affected area are still on-going.
