Anger engulfs kin of bridge victims

People hug beside the coffin of a victim of a collapsed highway bridge, at the Fiera di Genova exhibition where some of the victims are laid in state, in Genoa, Italy, Aug. 17, 2018. AP GENOA — With anger and grief, Italians began burying some of their dead Friday from the Genoa highway bridge collapse, holding funerals in the victims’ hometowns. Several angry families rebuffed the offer of a state funeral and the cardinal of Naples was merciless in his condemnation of negligence by Italian officials.

Saturday was declared a national day of mourning in Italy and included a state funeral at the industrial port city’s fair grounds for those who plunged to their deaths as the 45-meter tall Morandi Bridge gave way Tuesday.

But many of those who lost loved ones declined to participate in the state funeral. Some cited the need to bid farewell in private while others blamed the loss of at least 38 lives on those responsible for the bridge’s safety.

Anger and sadness erupted at the funeral Friday for four men in their 20s, all friends from the Naples seaside suburb of Torre del Greco, whose lives were snuffed out as they drove over the bridge heading to a vacation in Spain.

“You can’t, you mustn’t die for negligence! For carelessness! For irresponsibility! For superficiality!” thundered Naples Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe in his homily.

Finding the cause of the bridge’s collapse during a driving rainstorm might take weeks or months to determine. But Genoa prosecutors say they are focusing their investigation into possible criminal blame on design flaws or inadequate maintenance on the heavily traveled bridge, which was completed in 1967 and linked two high-speed highways in the city.

Other private funerals were held in Piedmont and elsewhere in Italy.