Dozens are feared dead after a 650ft section of a highway bridge suddenly collapsed during a storm in Genoa, Italy.
Cars fell 300ft into a river, railroad tracks and buildings when the Morandi bridge gave way at 11.30am local time.
The head of the local ambulance service said there were 'dozens of dead' in what the transport minister called 'an immense tragedy.'
One witness described the carnage as an 'apocalyptic scene.'
Firefighters searching the rubble with dogs for survivors have so far rescued one person who has been flown to hospital by helicopter.
An ambulance official said the service could only confirm two injured people so far, 'but we suppose there are unfortunately a lot of dead.'
A witness told Sky Italia television he saw 'eight or nine' vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed. Video captured a man screaming: 'Oh god, oh, god' as the bridge went down.
Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said in a tweet that he was 'following with great apprehension what seems like an immense tragedy.'
Some 600ft of the Morandi bridge collapsed over an industrial zone, raising concerns gas lines may have been damaged.
The disaster occurred on a highway that connects Italy to France and other vacation resorts on the eve of a major Italian holiday, Ferragosto meaning traffic would have been heavier than usual as many Italians traveled to beaches or mountains.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said some 200 firefighters were responding to the accident.
'We are following minute by minute the situation for the bridge collapse in Genoa,' Salvini said on Twitter.
The Morandi Bridge was inaugurated in 1967. It is 90 yards high, just over three-quarters of a mile long, with the longest section between supports measuring 200 yards. Restructuring work was carried out in 2016.
The bridge is a main thoroughfare connecting the A10 highway that goes toward France and the A7 highway that continues north toward Milan.
Shares in Atlantia, the toll road operator which runs the motorway, were suspended after falling 4.6 percent after news of the collapse.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
