News at Ten presenter Tom Bradby sparked outrage on social media while introducing a video package about the tragedy in northern Italy.
He said: “How often have all of us driven over a motorway bridge? Has it ever crossed your mind that it might actually fall down beneath you? “Well today in Genoa, one did with devastating consequences.”
Twitter users slammed the coverage branding it “ridiculous", "tactless", "insensitive" and "smug" after the disaster claimed at least 39 lives.
One wrote: “Is it me or is Tom Bradby’s delivery on @itvnews totally out of sync with the headlines he’s reading out! “Absolutely ridiculous tone for the Genoa tragedy.”
Furious social media users blasted the newsreader on Twitter.
Ann Bell wrote: "Thomas Bradby tone introducing the collapse of bridge in Genoa is totally inappropriate. Sounds like he thinks it is funny."
Niks noted: "I am still genuinely confused as to why @tombradby just introduced the @itvnews like it was a prank. People dying in a motorway bridge collapse isn’t light hearted. Where’s the respect?"
Jennifer Keegan tweeted: "Most disrespectful and tactless reporting on @itvnews of Genoa road disaster. It’s not an action film, people are dead!!!"
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:
- At least 38 people are known to have died
- 'Many' more have been seriously injured
- Four people have been rescued alive
- 35 cars and three heavy vehicles involved
- A 200m stretch of the road collapsed
-
PM Giuseppe Conte is heading to Genoa
Another added: “@itn was it just me or was the demeanour of @tombradby a bit light hearted when opening the news with the Genoa bridge disaster tonight?”
While posting video of Bradby’s intro, one user wrote: “In case you missed it, here’s how @tombradby introduced the Italian bridge disaster in which dozens were killed. Dumbfounded.”
One said: "#tombradby what kind of intro to the Italian disaster was that! Absolutely shocking and heartless journalism.. if not your words then the script writer needs a new job!"
Another wrote: “The news is not the place for a such a flippant ,smug attitude!”
One Twitter user posted: “Dreadful news introduction from @tombradby on ITV News tonight regarding #Genoa bridge disaster.
“People have died including children so odd to have such an upbeat, pun-heavy introduction.”
Others called for the newsreader to apologise.
Graham Smales said: "Any sign of an apology from @tombradby @itvnews @NewsAtTen? The sheer arrogance and continued insensitivity is breathtaking. All parties should be ashamed of themselves. #itvnews #tombradby #news #ITV".
The head of the local ambulance service reportedly said there were "dozens of dead" following the tragedy in Genoa at 11.30am local time.
At least 39 people have died from the Morandi Bridge collapse and more seriously injured.
two days of mourning have been declared in Genoa following the tragedy.
Did you witness the collapse of the bridge? Are you in the area? If so contact us and send us your pictures: [email protected] or call: 020 778 24368
Some witnesses say the bridge – which was undergoing structural repairs – collapsed after being struck by a bolt of lightning.
"It was just after 11.30am when we saw the lightning strike the bridge and we all saw the bridge going down," said Pietro M. all'Asa.
Another witness, unnamed, recalled: "We heard an incredible roar and first we thought it was thunder very close by.
"We live about 5km [three miles] from the bridge but we heard a crazy bang – we were very scared.
"Traffic went completely haywire and the city was paralysed."
The areas surrounding the bridge have now been sealed off over fears other parts of the structure may now collapse.
A rescue worker told local news outlet Ansa: "There is a risk that other parts of the bridge may collapse, which is why we have evacuated people from all the surrounding buildings."
Photographs show a 200-metre section of the motorway near the port city had collapsed and now rescue crews are working to free survivors trapped in the rubble below.
Dog and sonar teams have joined emergency crews at the scene on and below the busy bridge, which is near the city's airport.
Rescuers have compared the scene to an earthquake disaster zone.
According to firefighters, there are around 20 trapped vehicles and gas leaks have also been reported: "Here is hell," said one rescue worker.
The disaster occurred on a "tourist" highway that connects Italy to France and the road was busier than usual. The A10 is also one of the main roads which leads to the Italian Riviera.
An eyewitness told Sky Italia the saw "eight or nine" vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed in what he said was an "apocalyptic scene".
One image posted by the regional emergency services shows a truck perched at the end of the surviving bridge section immediately before the drop.
Images emerged later of an air ambulance being loaded with one of the injured near the bridge, which had recently been undergoing repairs.
The missing section ran across the span of the Polcevera stream. Italian newspaper La Repubblica described that part of the city as "densely inhabited".
Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said in a tweet that he was "following with great apprehension what seems like an immense tragedy".
Italian television showed images of the collapsed bridge, which was built on the A10 toll motorway in the 1960s. Major restructuring work on the bridge was also carried out in 2016.
Maria Luisa Catalano, a police official in Genoa, said authorities are still involved in rescue efforts and do not yet know the number of victims.
Interior minister Matteo Salvini said some 200 firefighters were responding to the accident.
He said on Twitter: “We are following minute by minute the situation for the bridge collapse in Genoa.”
Authorities are working on the theory a structural weakness caused the collapse.
Video footage appears to show one of the towers holding up the suspension bridge collapsing in stormy weather. The police linked it to what they called a violent cloudburst.
The collapsed section had mostly fallen onto rail tracks below and there are now fears a gas pipeline may have been damaged.
Corrosion or weather conditions could have been part of the cause for the collapse, claimed a structural engineer specialising in bridges.
"As this reinforced and prestressed concrete bridge has been there for 50 years it is possible that corrosion of tendons or reinforcement may be a contributory factor," said Ian Firth, former president of The Institution of Structural Engineers.
"The fact that there was reported to be a storm at the time may or may not be particularly relevant. In addition, ongoing work on the bridge may or may not be partly responsible for the collapse."
Serie A clubs and players have today tribute to the victims through social media.
Former Genoa star Leonardo Pavoletti wrote on Twitter: “I have goosebumps thinking of how many times we passed through this bridge.
"It’s incredible that tragedies like this one can happen these days. My heart is close to Genova at this moment.”
Italy national team coach and former Sampdoria star Roberto Mancini has just shared a message on social media.
"I'm close to the family of the victims, I am close to a city and a region that do not deserve this", Mancini wrote on Twitter.
The structural breakdown reportedly started from one of the bridge's columns at Via Fillak, in the Sampierdarena area.
The bridge, also known as the Polcevera Viaduct, is named after its architect Riccardo Morandi. Construction began in 1962 and was completed in 1968.
The 1,100 metres-long structure is said to be the first cable-stayed concrete bridge ever built in Europe.
The collapse of the bridge comes eight days after another major accident on an Italian highway, one near the northern city of Bologna.
In that case, a tanker truck carrying a highly flammable gas exploded after rear-ending a stopped truck on the road and getting hit from behind itself.
The accident killed one person, injured dozens and blew apart a section of a raised eight-lane highway.
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