Around 500 relatives of people who died of Covid-19 in Italy have said they are initiating legal action against regional and national authorities, seeking 100 million euros ($122 million) in damages.

The civil lawsuit, which the plaintiffs said they would present to a Rome court in the next few hours, is against Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Health Minister Roberto Speranza and the governor of the northerly Lombardy region, Attilio Fontana.

The lawsuit is being brought by members of a committee called “Noi Denunceremo” (we will go to court), set up in April to represent the relatives of people who died in Bergamo, one of Lombardy’s worst-affected cities.

The committee said when the outbreak erupted in Lombardy local authorities and the central government failed to take rapid action which could have avoided the need for a national lockdown and the economic damage it has brought.