Papers seized in viaduct collapse probe

(ANSA) - Palermo, January 5 - 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.