Dozens reported dead after a huge motorway bridge collapse in Italy

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The bridge in Genoa before and after the collapse.

• A huge motorway bridge collapsed in the northern Italian city of Genoa on Tuesday morning.
• Dozens of people are dead, according to Italian media.
• One person has been pulled alive from the rubble and transported to hospital by helicopter, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
• Photo and video footage on social media show a huge portion of the bridge missing and rubble on the ground beneath.

Dozens of people have been reported dead after a motorway bridge collapsed in the northern Italian city of Genoa.

One person has been pulled out alive from the rubble under the bridge and is being transported to hospital by helicopter, Italian news agency ANSA reports. At least 10 vehicles were involved in the collapse, according to ANSA.

The collapsed Morandi bridge was a section of the A10 motorway, near the city center. The collapse took place as torrential rain fell in the region.

The bridge was around 100 meters (328 feet) tall, according to Italian media, and crossed over railway tracks and some buildings. Reports said that a number of cars were on the bridge when it collapsed.

Precise figures for the number of casualties were unclear. The Italian news agency Adnkronos reported a Genoan emergency services official telling them that "dozens" are dead.

Photographs from the scene show rubble on the ground underneath the bridge and a number of buildings underneath it. Local police and figure brigade officials said that no injuries or deaths had been reported so far, according to news agency Reuters.

Image and videos posted to Twitter after the collapse show a large portion of the bridge missing.

The area below the bridge is heavily built up, footage shows.

These dramatic before-and-after images show the scale of the incident:

Police posted photo and video footage of the aftermath:

Matteo Salvini, Italy's deputy prime minister, said on Facebook that he and other officials were closely monitoring the disaster response.

The bridge was built in the 1960s, and restructuring work was carried out on the bridge in 2016, Reuters reports.