9 arrested for faking viaduct reports

(ANSA) - Genoa, September 13 - Italian police on Friday arrested nine people on suspicion of soft-pedalling reports on bridge and viaduct safety.
    The nine allegedly filed fake reports on the condition of bridges and viaducts run by the Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI) company.
    The probe was opened after the August 2018 collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa which killed 43 people.
    Some 15 people including managers and technicians working for ASPI and engineering group SPEA were placed under investigation.
    The nine arrests concern the Pecetti viaduct on the A26 motorway in Liguria and the Paolillo viaduct on the A16 in Puglia.
    Italy has upped controls on motorway safety in the wake of the Genoa bridge disaster.
    The government looks set to strip ASPI and its parent company Atlantia of its motorway concessions because of alleged lack of maintenance.
    Atlantia shares closed over 8% down in Milan on Friday's news.