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Aerial video footage shows the scale of destruction caused when a major motorway bridge collapsed in Italy .
The section of the bridge which fell to the ground in its entirety can be seen clearly in the clip recorded by an aircraft circling overhead.
At least 22 people were killed in the collapse, according to the country’s transport minister, Danilo Toninelli.
“I’m following with great apprehension what has happened in Genoa, which appears to be an immense tragedy,” Mr Toninelli said in a statement posted on social media .
Structural weaknesses may have caused the disaster, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported authorities as having said.
Sited near the port city of Genoa, the bridge was built for the A10 motorway in the 1960s, with restructuring work reportedly carried out in 2016.
Show all 50 1 /50Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Morandi bridge after it collapsed, in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa A satellite image of the collapsed section of the Morandi Bridge
EPA/European Space Imaging
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Rescuers inspect the rubble and wreckages
AFP/Getty Images
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Night view of the Morandi bridge collapsed in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Displaced people from their homes
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Rescuers work among the rubble
AP
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Rescuers inspect the rubble and wreckages
AFP/Getty Images
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
AFP/Getty Images
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa A satellite image of the collapsed section of the Morandi Bridge
EPA/European Space Imaging
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa People living in the buildings in the area have been evacuated
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Excavators dig into the rubble at the site of the highway-bridge-collapse disaster
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa A lorry stands on the edge
AFP/Getty
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
AFP/Getty
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa A large section of the Morandi viaduct, of which the A10 motorway runs, collapsed in Genoa
Reuters
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
Reuters
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Rescuers at work amid the rubble
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
Reuters
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa A large section of the Morandi viaduct, of which the A10 motorway runs, collapsed in Genoa
AFP/Getty Images
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
AFP/Getty Images
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
AP
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
AFP/Getty Images
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Rescue workers at the collapsed Morandi Bridge
Reuters
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
AFP/Getty
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Cars seen among the rubble
Vigili Del Fuoco/AP
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
AFP/Getty
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
AFP/Getty
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa A large section of the Morandi viaduct upon which the A10 motorway runs collapsed in Genoa, Italy
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Rescuers work among the debris of the collapsed Morandi highway bridge
AP
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa The viaduct gave way amid torrential rain
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa The viaduct runs over shopping centres, factories, some homes, the Genoa-Milan railway line and the Polcevera river
AP
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Around 10 vehicles are involved in the collapse, rescue sources said
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa A view of the collapsed Morandi highway bridge
ANSA via AP
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Rescue teams on the site
EPA/Italian Firefighters
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Rescuers at the site of the collapsed bridge
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Both sides of the highway fell
AFP/Getty Images
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA/Italian Firefighters
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa The site of a collapsed bridge
EPA/Italian Firefighters
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
Sergio Battelli/Twitter
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa Rescue teams on the site
EPA/Italian Firefighters
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
EPA
Italian bridge collapses: part of highway gives way in Genoa
Vigili del Fuoco/Twitter
According to reports in Italian media, the collapse took place near an industrial zone, raising fears about gas pipes potentially exploding from the knock-on effects of the disaster.
The country’s interior minister Matteo Salvini said around 200 firefighters had responded to the accident and that the government was “following the situation minute-by-minute”.
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