A Sicilian prosecutor seized
documents Monday from a highway construction company as part of
a probe into why a viaduct collapsed just six days after its
inauguration.
Prosecutors in Termini Imerese also were meeting with
consultants who they will appoint as experts to determine the
causes of the collapse of the Scorciavacche viaduct on the
Palermo-to-Agrigento highway.
The experts' reports will enable magistrates to determine
who will be placed under investigation for the debacle.
Contractors from the Bolognetta scpa group which built the
viaduct announced they had concluded the job on December 23, six
months ahead of the contractual deadline of March 23, judicial
sources say.
The collapse necessitated the closure of a one-kilometre
strip of highway including two viaducts in Palermo province on
the route from Palermo to Agrigento that has the highest
accident rate in Sicily.
Regional highway manager Anas said the roadway was closed
as soon as the first signs of the surface giving way were
spotted.
The incident follows the collapse July 7 in Agrigento
province of the Petrusa bridge on the highway from Ravanusa to
Licata while three cars were crossing the bridge.
Four people survived the latest accident with slight
injuries, including a pregnant woman.
Anas said it will open an inquiry as Premier Matteo Renzi
tweeted "the era of errors without ever any fathers is finished.
Everyone will pay" and said he has asked Anas for the names of
the people responsible.
Infrastructure Minister Maurizio Lupi called the collapse
"unprecedented and unacceptable".
The collapsed viaduct was part of a contract for some 34
kilometres of highway at an overall cost of more than 295
million euros while the cost of the strip of road declared
finished December 23 was 13 million euros.
During the opening of the stretch, Anas President Pietro
Ciucci said the work carried out was "one of the most demanding
of its kind" and proudly hailed its completion ahead of
schedule.
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