Pope prays for victims of Genoa bridge collapse

Pope Francis blesses the crowd during the Angelus noon prayer he recited from the window of his studio overlooking St.Pter’s Square, at the Vatican on Aug. 15, 2018. AP

ROME — Pope Francis has led prayers for the victims of the Genoa highway bridge collapse.

Francis also noted the shock of Genoa’s population in remarks Wednesday to faithful in St. Peter’s Square.
Authorities said at least 39 were killed in the bridge’s collapse on Tuesday in the northwestern Italian port city.

Francis said: “I am especially thinking of all those tried by the tragedy in Genoa yesterday, which caused victims and a sense of loss in the population.”

He expressed his “spiritual closeness” to the victims, the injured and their families and the hundreds of people who were forced to flee homes in the area.

He then led thousands of people in the square in a special prayer for the victims and their loved ones.

Italian authorities have raised the number of confirmed deaths to 39 in the Genoa highway bridge collapse.

Angelo Borrelli, the head of the civil protection department, announced the latest death toll at a news conference in Genoa on Wednesday.

Borrelli said some 1,000 rescuers have been working since after the collapse Tuesday to search for “any possible missing” persons.

He added that 15 people were injured when a 80-meter (260-foot) stretch of highway broke off, sending vehicles plunging from the bridge. /ee