Relatives of the victims hugged each other after the verdicts were read out. Image@ EPA
A court in Genoa has sentenced former Autostrade per l’Italia (Aspi) chief executive Giovanni Castellucci to 12 years in prison for his role in the 2018 Morandi bridge disaster that claimed 43 lives.
The ruling follows one of Italy’s largest infrastructure negligence trials, in which 57 people faced charges linked to the catastrophic collapse of the motorway viaduct during a heavy rainstorm on 14 August 2018.
Vehicles plunged nearly 45 metres to the ground after a large section of the bridge gave way at the height of the summer holiday travel period.
Although prosecutors had requested a significantly longer prison term for Castellucci, the court imposed a 12-year sentence.
The former executive is already serving a separate six-year prison term over a fatal road incident that occurred in 2013.
Former Aspi senior executive Michele Donferri Mitelli received an 11-year prison sentence, while Paolo Berti, formerly the company’s deputy chief executive, was jailed for five-and-a-half years.
Spea’s former chief executive Antonino Galatà was also handed a five-and-a-half-year sentence, and Mauro Coletta, a former senior transport ministry official responsible for motorway oversight, was sentenced to five years behind bars.
In total, 32 defendants were convicted, while 25 others were acquitted or escaped conviction because the alleged offences were no longer legally prosecutable under Italy’s statute of limitations.
Investigators argued that repeated warnings about the ageing bridge were ignored and that essential maintenance work was postponed over several years.
Defence lawyers rejected those claims, insisting the tragedy resulted from weaknesses in the bridge’s original engineering, particularly a cable system enclosed in concrete.
The lengthy legal process lasted nearly eight years, including almost four years of investigation followed by a trial involving more than 280 court sessions.
Relatives of those who died welcomed the verdict as an important milestone.
Emmanuel Diaz, who lost his brother in the disaster, expressed satisfaction with the outcome, while Egle Possetti, whose sister, brother-in-law and their children were killed, described the sentence as fair and said it represented an initial step toward accountability.
A large section of the viaduct collapsed in August 2018, bringing lorries and cars plummeting to the ground. Getty Images
Castellucci was absent when the judgement was delivered. His legal team immediately announced plans to challenge the ruling, arguing that the court’s decision was fundamentally flawed.
Ahead of the judgement, current Aspi chief executive Arrigo Giana publicly apologised on behalf of the company, acknowledging that past decisions had caused lasting pain.
He maintained that the organisation had since undergone major reforms, including new leadership and stronger safety oversight.
However, some victims’ families dismissed the apology. Cesare Cerulli, who lost his father in the collapse at the age of 10, criticised the gesture as insincere, saying it lacked genuine compassion.
Genoa Mayor Silvia Salis described the court’s decision as a significant moment for the city, saying grieving families had waited years for justice to begin taking shape.
Following the collapse, the remains of the Morandi bridge were demolished in 2019.
A replacement crossing, the San Giorgio Bridge, designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano, opened in 2020 and now stands as a symbol of the city’s recovery.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong