Bad weather, car crashes into Trigno river after bridge collapse
Puglia, Abruzzo and Molise on red alert, Basilicata and Calabria on orange alert, five other regions on yellow alert
In Molise, the bridge over the Trigno along the State Highway 16 'Adriatica', in the territory of Montenero di Bisaccia, which had already been monitored since yesterday, when the road was closed due to the swollen river, has collapsed. Two cars were in transit on the bridge at the time of the collapse: one managed to save itself, while the other was involved in the collapse and has not yet been found. The car may have been driven by a 53-year-old man from Bisceglie, in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. His daughter launched an appeal on Facebook. Searches are ongoing with air rescue vehicles and fire brigade divers. The Larino Public Prosecutor's Office has opened a file against unknown persons for culpable collapse and, should it be confirmed that there were people on board the missing vehicle, the offence could extend to culpable homicide.
Road connections with Abruzzo are practically interrupted. The collapse was reported by the head of the Montenero di Bisaccia local police, Pierfrancesco Assogna, who was on site to monitor the condition of the state road, which was closed yesterday afternoon due to flooding following the Trigno River overflow. The reaction of the judicial authority was immediate. The prosecutor's office of Larino has opened a file for negligent collapse but, at the moment, it is against unknown persons. There is no registration of any suspect.
From 4:00 p.m. today, Autostrade per l'Italia has activated the free tollbooth on the A14 between the Vasto Sud and Termoli tollbooths, in response to a request from the president of the Abruzzo Region, Marco Marsilio. The extraordinary measure was adopted to guarantee the mobility of commuters and make it possible to bypass the interrupted section, avoiding congestion on secondary roads.
Other areas, especially in Chietino, are also completely isolated due to the bad weather that has been going on for three days now and the flooding. The villages of Colledimezzo and Fraine, reports the regional civil protection authorities, are currently isolated. In Castiglione Messer Marino, a hotel in Santa Maria is isolated and being evacuated by tracked vehicles; there are six guests inside. Problems in other areas, where there are isolated hamlets that cannot be reached by rescue vehicles. In some cases there is a lack of electricity and gas
Very critical situation throughout the Basso Molise. In Termoli the emergency plan for the Liscione dam has been triggered with widespread evacuations. The Carpino river flooded, flooding part of the provincial road 45, in the territory of Carpinone, and the industrial area of Pettoranello del Molise, near Isernia. The Ofanto river, in northern Barese, is in flood: the waters are reaching the guard level. Occhito dam on pre-alert, concern for flooding in Carlantino, in the province of Foggia. In the Piceno region of the Marche region, 90 people are isolated due to a landslide. In the Potentino area, a containment wall collapsed, three families evacuated.
