Overview
- A first‑instance verdict on July 16, 2026 found former Atlantia and Autostrade CEO Giovanni Castellucci guilty and sentenced him to 12 years for his role in the 2018 Morandi Bridge collapse.
- The trial of 57 people examined charges from multiple counts of manslaughter to falsifying documents in the collapse that killed 43 people when a roughly 200‑metre span fell during a rainstorm.
- Prosecutors argued long‑standing maintenance failures, including postponed reinforcement work on pier nine, caused the disaster while defendants blamed a hidden construction defect in the stay cables.
- Autostrade and its maintenance arm SPEA left corporate criminal proceedings in 2022 after paying about €29–30 million in a settlement, leaving individuals to face criminal trials.
- Relatives packed the courtroom for the verdict and say the ruling advances their search for truth, but under Italian law the sentence can be appealed and judges must publish detailed reasoning within months.