A bridge collapsed onto the A14
motorway near the central Italian city of Ancona Thursday,
killing two people and injuring three others, sources said.
The victims were named as Emidio 'Mimmo' Diomedi, 60, and his
wife Antonella Viviani, 54, who had been married for 36 years.
They lived in Spinetoli near Ascoli Piceno, where they ran a
packaging business at Colli del Tronto.
They were in a Nissan car that was travelling under the
bridge, the sources said.
The couple left two children, Daniele and Daniele, the latter
a former team manager of the Sambenedettese Calcio football
club.
Highway company Autostrade per l'Italia said that the bridge
was a temporary structure to support an overpass that had been
closed to traffic.
The collapse took place amid work to broaden the highway
between the South Ancona and Loreto exits to three lanes.
Only one car was affected by the collapse, the one in which
the dead people were travelling, according to an initial
reconstruction.
The three injured people are construction workers, sources
said.
Traffic on the highway is expected to be closed in both
directions for a long time an alternative routes have been
suggested.
Transport Minister Graziano Delrio sent inspectors to the
scene.
Opposition politicians said the collapse, which followed
others in recent years, was "unacceptable".
Some called for Delrio to resign.
Prosecutors opened a probe into suspected culpable
manslaughter.
Ancona is a provincial capital in the Marche region.
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