A Romanian truck driver who suffered severe cranial and chest injuries in the collapse of Genoa's bridge has died, bringing the death toll in the Italian tragedy to 43.
The San Martino Hospital said Marian Rosca, 36, died on Saturday evening. Doctors had described him as the most severely injured of the survivors of Tuesday's collapse of the Morandi Bridge, a key artery in Genoa.
The collapse sent a highway, bridge support tower and dozens of cars and trucks plunging 45 metres into a dry riverbed in the northern Italian port city.
Authorities say several other bridge survivors are still in hospital.
The Italian highway company in charge of the Genoa highway bridge that collapsed says it can build a new bridge in eight months.
Giovanni Castellucci, CEO of Autostrade per l'Italia, the company that manages and upkeeps Italian highways and bridges, told reporters it has a plan to demolish what's left of the largely concrete 51-year-old Morandi Bridge and build a "less imposing" steel one.
Italy's government has begun procedures to revoke the company's concession and has vowed that Autostrade per l'Italia will never again run the nation's roads.
Prosecutors are focusing on possible design flaws or improper maintenance as an eventual cause for the disaster .
A requiem mass was held on Saturday for 19 of the victims at Genoa's Exhibition and Trade Centre and was led by the city's archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco.
Some of the victims' families boycotted the event and held their own private services as a protest against the state, accusing it of negligence in overseeing safety on the bridge.
Saturday was a national day of mourning and the government had declared a state of emergency for Genoa, allocating just over 30 million euros for the city's immediate needs.
Members of the fire brigade, rescue teams and the police force were welcomed with applause as they entered the exhibition centre, where the caskets, including a small white one for a child, were lined up in front of a temporary altar.
Players of the city's two football teams, Genoa and Sampdoria, sat among the crowd, having cancelled matches this weekend in sign of respect. Relatives of the dead stood beside the coffins, adorned with white and yellow roses, some with their hands on the caskets.
"The collapse of the bridge was a gash in the heart of Genoa, it's a deep wound," the archbishop said in his homily.
Australian Associated Press
