ROME: A motorway bridge collapsed on Tuesday over the northern Italian port city of Genoa in what the transport minister said was likely to be "an immense tragedy".
The head of the local ambulance service said there were "dozens of dead", Italian news agency Adnkronos reported.
The local fire brigade said also victims were likely after the bridge collapsed at around 11:30 a.m. (0930 GMT) during torrential rainfall.
Italian television showed images of the collapsed bridge, which was built on the A10 toll motorway in the 1960s. Restructuring work on the bridge was carried out in 2016.
An witness told Sky Italia television he saw "eight or nine" vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed in what he said was an "apocalyptic scene".
Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said in a tweet that he was "following with great apprehension what seems like an immense tragedy".
Italian news agency ANSA says one person has been extracted alive from the rubble of the bridge collapse near the northern city of Genoa and is being transported by helicopter to a hospital.
ANSA says Italian rescue workers have identified at least 10 vehicles involved the bridge collapse.
There was no immediate word on overall deaths or injuries. Maria Luisa Catalano of the highway police in Genoa said work was ongoing, adding, "we don't know numbers of victims/injured yet."
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said some 200 fire fighters are responding to the accident. On Twitter he says "we are following minute by minute the situation of the bridge collapse in Genoa."
The bridge is an important interchange between the northern regions of Lombardy and Piedmont and the beaches of Liguria, and to the main highway heading westward into France.
