A 30-metre stretch of the A6 motorway between Turin and Savona was swept away by a mudslide on Sunday afternoon. Environment minister Sergio Costa told news agency ANSA: “We are working closely with the regions to secure the territory but it is a race against time. “The dreadful weather we are experiencing is the result of two emergencies, the climatic one and that of the fragility of our country: 79% of the territory is at risk of flooding, landslides and instability.”
In an aerial video taken by firefighters, cars and one lorry could be seen stopped dangerously close to the point where the raised part of the A6 road collapsed in the Liguria region.
One witness said: “I was just overtaking when I saw somebody waving and I thought he had fallen ill.
“Then I turned and saw everything was black, the viaduct was gone.
“Behind me there was also a bus with dozens of people on board – luckily we managed to stop it.”
As it stands, there are no reported fatalities of the collapse.
However, sniffer dogs and helicopters are in the area to to do the checks.
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Liguria’s president Giovanni Toti has said one car was involved when the bridge collapsed.
In the Piedmont region a woman was missing after her car was swept away following flooding from a river.
The mayor of Venice has said the flooding damage could come up to one million euros and gave blame to climate change causing water levels to rise.
Liguria is the same region where a motorway bridge collapsed last year in Genoa killing 43 people.
The 150 metre-long suspension bridge in Mirepoix-sur-Tarn, near Toulouse, collapsed as a lorry, a car and a van were crossing it.
French senators last year called for more money to check and repair bridges across France after the collapse of a motorway viaduct in Genoa.
The most severe heavy rain is now moving away from Italy and towards Turkey.
Earlier in November Italy declared a state of emergency in Venice after it was engulfed by the flooding.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the flooding as “a blow to the heart of our country”.
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.