GENOA: Italy’s populist government intensified its attacks on Thursday on the bridge operator it blames for the viaduct collapse that killed dozens of people in Genoa, as rescuers picked through rubble on the third day of desperate efforts to find survivors.

Anger is mounting over the tragedy and the structural problems that have dogged the decades-old Morandi bridge, which buckled without warning on Tuesday, sending about 35 cars and several trucks plunging 45 metres onto railway tracks below along with huge chunks of concrete.

The government has accused infrastructure giant Autostrade per L’Italia of failing to invest in sufficient maintenance — a claim the company denies — and said it would seek to revoke its lucrative contracts.

Shares in Atlantia, the holding company of Autostrade, slumped 22 per cent by Thursday in the wake of the barrage of criticism.

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini demanded that the company offer up to 500 million euros ($570 million) to help families and local government deal with the aftermath of the disaster.

“If we’ve put up five million euros, they should offer 500 million,” he told reporters.

“There needs to be an immediate, concrete and tangible signal for these families: they should put their hands on their hearts and in their wallets.” The collapse has prompted fears over other ageing infrastructure in Italy and abroad, with Bulgaria announcing Thur­sday a plan to renovate more than 200 bridges while France has said one in three of national road bridges are in need of repair.

With Genoa’s chief prosecutor saying that between 10 and 20 people could still be missing under the huge piles of concrete, rescue workers clambered across the rubble hoping to find survivors.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2018