Italian authorites say as many as 35 people were killed when a bridge carrying vehicles partially collapsed in the northern port city of Genoa Tuesday during an intense storm.
"It's not acceptable that such an important bridge ... was not built to avoid this kind of collapse," Deputy Transport Minister Edoardo Rixi said in an interview with SkyNews24.
Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said he was "following with great apprehension what seems like an immense tragedy."
An eyewitness told Sky Italia television he saw "eight or nine" vehicles on the bridge when it crumbled in what he described as an "apocalyptic scene."
ANSA news agency published photos showing a gaping hole in the bridge, which collapsed over a river, railroad tracks and buildings.
Fire department official Amalia Tedeschi, an official with the firefighters, said the hole was about 80 meters in length.
Tedeschi told RAI state TV two people had been rescued from vehicles with injuries and rescue dogs are searching through the rubble for more survivors. She also said heavy equipment was enroute to lift pieces of the bridge.
ANSA reported authorities suspect structure weakness caused the collapse of the bridge, which was built in the 1960's and underwent renovation in 2016.
The bridge is a major thoroughfare that links the Italian Riviera to France's southern coast.