Mubasher: At least 22 people were killed after a motorway bridge collapsed on torrential rains that hit buildings in north Italy on early Tuesday.

An 80-meter section of the bridge in the northern city of Genoa crashed down during the rain that fell upon the roof a factory and other buildings, hitting at least one truck, with huge concrete slabs falling into the river crossing below.

“It’s not acceptable that such an important bridge [...] was not built to avoid this kind of collapse,” Deputy Transport Minister Edoardo Rixi told SkyNews24, adding that the death toll would rise.

The incident revealed the dilapidated condition of the country’s infrastructure and a lack of maintenance, Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli told Italian state television, adding that “those responsible will have to pay.”

The Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was heading in the evening and would stay there on Wednesday, the Premier’s office, while Defence minister Elisabetta Trenta said that the army was ready to provide manpower and vehicles to aid with the rescue operations.

Restructuring work on the 1.2 kilometre (km) bridge was carried out in 2016. The motorway bridge operator, Atlantia, stated that work to buttress its foundation was being undertaken at the time of the collapse, adding that the bridge was under constant monitoring.