" I still feel responsible but not guilty. Responsible for what was the management of the bridge and as the custodian of the property I feel this responsibility ."
Giovanni Castellucci, former CEO of Aspi , said this in his spontaneous statements at the trial for the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa on 14 August 2018, resulting in the death of 43 people .
"This tragedy has affected me deeply, I was aware of its dimension for the lives broken, for the absurdity of death, swept away on a viaduct on an August morning," Castellucci added. "I think this tragedy has afflicted not only Genoa but all of Italy and those who have a sense of community."
Again: « I was CEO of the company that managed the bridge, I still feel this burden now. I was among the first to arrive, I tried to help in the crisis committees. I made myself available to the president of the Region but with admiration for those who managed the crisis, for those who saved lives, those who were digging. And I felt the frustration of not being able to be useful if not by accelerating what I could do, like the Pope's road (sea road, ed.) and in the following months I did everything that was useful to alleviate the pain of those who were suffering and all of this was not enough».
"For all these years," Castellucci added, " I have tried to remain silent because I thought the truth should come out fully and freely. Moreover, on a bridge that I only knew about in passing . Today I am here to say everything I know and have done to give my small contribution to the truth."
The former CEO of Aspi recalls: «I asked that all the victims be reimbursed, I donated my bonus to the victims, to support their children's studies. I have never shied away from discussions with the relatives of the victims, and the victims are not only the dead. I tried to do what I could but this becomes nothing compared to the enormity of the tragedy and I am aware of it».
Castellucci rejected accusations that he saved on maintenance to ensure higher dividends: "Maintenance costs have never decreased. The 2017 dividend - the former top manager explained - was due to an extraordinary event, in that year an organizational reorganization was decided, an asset was transferred from Autostrade to Atlantia".
