04:44 – State funeral in Genoa after the fall of the bridge

State funeral is held in Genoa on Saturday in the presence of the highest Italian politicians following the fatal collapse of the highway bridge, for which the government tirelessly attacks the manager of the work.

Some of the victims chose not to take part in the ceremony in Genoa and preferred private funerals.

Rescuers, including 350 firefighters, are still being mobilized to search for five missing persons in the ruins of the Morandi Bridge, four days later the nightmare disaster that struck cars & # 39; s trucks in the void

The provisional official balance of the drama has frozen to 38 dead since Thursday. Ten wounded are still in hospital, of whom six are considered seriously ill

In a huge hall in Genoa, transformed into a burning chapel, 18 coffins were erected on Saturday morning, including the whiteness of a child . They are covered with flowers, with the name or photo of the dead.

Some families preferred private tombs on Friday or Saturday by boycotting the authorities' initiative.

The daily La Stampa reported Friday that At least 17 victims preferred to not attend the official ceremony

Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, who is scheduled to celebrate the Saturday Mass, which is on a big screen for the inhabitants will be broadcast, "all his respect for chose not to want a state funeral".

"My son was murdered," said Roberto, the father of one of the four young people in Torre del Greco, a city in Naples, on Friday.

"We must not die by negligence, carelessness, superficiality, bureaucratism," wrote Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Archbishop of Naples, in his homily dedicated to the four young people on Friday in their birthplace.

Funerals were also held Friday in several other Italian cities.

– Withdrawal –

The government announced on Friday that the procedure for withdrawing the concession of the part of Genoa was officially initiated in a mail sent to the highway concessionaire.

In a communiqué issued in the evening, the head of government Giuseppe Conte specified that the concession company, Autostrade per l & # 39; Italia, had fifteen days to make conflicting remarks.

Referring to information that the concessionaire would be willing to rebuild the bridge at his expense, Mr. Conte noted that his government would evaluate the proposal if it had been formalized. Under a "provisional compensation for damages" that may not be sufficient

The President of the Council also intends to monitor in the future the concessions of motorways, which "will have to understand that the infrastructure is not a financial income, but a public good. "

" We are doing our best to open Autostrade's portfolio to help the relatives of the victims, the people involved, the homeless and the city ", was launched Friday the ubiquitous Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, Minister of the Interior and Head of the League (far right).

The company, belonging to the Atlantia group, was controlled by the Benetton family to 30%, assured that its security checks were serious. Benetton's property, Edizione (the reference shareholder), said it would do everything to expose the obligations in this tragedy.

Atlantia said that a reconstruction of the bridge "in the five could be completed" month ", once the site was accessible after the end of research and survey statements.

But the group vehemently criticized the government's sanction, which it was decided "in the absence of any certainty about the real causes" of the tragedy, and he also warned that the dismissal would be a costly compensation to the state.

While the football championship is resumed this weekend, the games are scheduled for Sunday from Sampdoria and Genoa, the two teams of Genoa have been postponed to a later date, during the other meetings the players will observe a minute's silence and wear a black bracelet.

Saturday, day of national mourning for the victims, the lights on the emblematic buildings of Rome such as the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain and the Place du Capitole, remains extinct from 22:00 to 23:00