Italian officials found guilty over deadly bridge collapse

**Andrew Peach** (0:00)
This is The Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Andrew Peach, and at 15 Hours GMT on Thursday the 16th of July, these are our main stories. The former head of Italian Roads is jailed for 12 years for a deadly bridge collapse that killed 43 people. Pakistan urges the US and Iran to stop attacks and start talking again, and protests in Ukraine against the surprise removal of the defense minister. Also in this podcast...
The healing music, helping the children in the ruins of Gaza.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:47)
Giovanni Castellucci is sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment, Michele Donferri-Mitelli a sentence of 11 years' imprisonment, Maurizio Ceneri and Emanuele De Angelis to a sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.

**Andrew Peach** (0:59)
That was the moment a judge sentenced several executives and engineers for their role in one of the country's most devastating modern infrastructure disasters eight years ago.
More than 30 people, including the former head of motorway operator Alto Strada, were found guilty following the collapse of Genoa's Morandi Bridge. The tragedy killed 43 people, including several children. Ahead of the sentencing, Egle Pezzetti, the head of the Victims Memorial Committee, revealed what a guilty verdict would mean to those who lost their lives and their families.

**Egle Pezzetti** (1:32)
We believe these convictions will bring a sense of accountability to how things are managed, more justice and more safety. We believe that failing to secure convictions would represent a major failure, particularly for future preventative measures.

**Andrew Peach** (1:45)
Our reporter in Rome, Davide Guglione, explained the significance of today's verdict.

**Davide Guglione** (1:50)
The most important decision today is the 12 year sentence for the former CEO of Atlantis, Giovanni Castellucci, who's identified as the main responsible for what happened. Obviously, we know that it was a very lengthy trial. It took 284 hearings before reaching this verdict, which is very important for the families of the victim, because they were left almost in the limbo for the last few years, because on the one hand, you had the prosecutor saying that happened due to the lack of proper maintenance, but the lawyers were also saying, no, that's not true.
It's no one's fault.
It's just a tragedy, essentially, to simplify that, because obviously, there were a lot of technical details. There was a damaged cable, which was, according to the lawyers, impossible to see because it was covered in concrete. So there are a lot of technical details, but the important thing is that this verdict is finally giving the families some sort of hope and some sort of peace. I was talking to some of the relatives the last couple of days that were feeling really, really anxious before the verdict was read this morning by the three judges and this afternoon, they were relieved. The sister, one of the victims, actually messaged me on WhatsApp saying that she was feeling much better now.

**Andrew Peach** (3:14)
OK, and what's been said publicly since we heard the verdict in the last couple of hours?

**Davide Guglione** (3:19)
There will still be a press conference much later today. The families will be talking shortly. The new CEO of the company in charge of the bridge, actually apologised yesterday for the first time to the families of the victims. And now there will be the appeal, almost certainly. But this is a very important indication on what the three judges were thinking.

**Andrew Peach** (3:42)
Davide, what's it been like covering this huge story today when you were very much at the centre of the events in question yourself years ago?

**Davide Guglione** (3:51)
It's always difficult for journalists to cover natural disasters, war zones, and it always has an impact on you. But this time, because I was on holiday, I was visiting my parents, and it's very much part of my background, that city, that bridge, which I used to take to go to the beach with my parents when I was little, and it was such a busy day as well because it was ahead of a public holiday, I could have been hit. So a few cars from me were actually smashed by huge blocks of concrete falling down. So I think I was like the fourth car.
It was very confusing when it happened. So I didn't think I realised immediately what was going on, because mainly due to the storm. But there was this huge plume of smoke and all of a sudden I was part of the story. But at the same time I was already a journalist. So I was the first journalist at the sea. It was crazy. It was hard.

**Andrew Peach** (4:48)
And that was my colleague Davide Guglione with me from Rome.