Hopes that further survivors will be found in the rubble of a collapsed motorway bridge in the Italian city of Genoa are disappearing, with the official death toll standing at 39.
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"Unfortunately it's very likely that there are more victims under the rubble," Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told local television.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte earlier declared a 12-month state of emergency after a special cabinet meeting in the north-western port city.
The Morandi bridge collapsed on Tuesday, one day before a national holiday and during a heavy thunderstorm, sending around 35 cars and three trucks crashing to the ground from a height of 45 metres.
Conte said 16 people had been injured in the disaster, including nine who are in a critical condition.
Three children aged 8, 12 and 13, as well as several foreigners - four from France, two from Albania, one from Romania, one from Chile - have been named among the dead.
A funeral will be held for the 39 identified victims on Saturday, Conte said in a later Facebook post, adding that it would coincide with a national day of mourning.
About 630 people have been told to leave nearby homes because remaining parts of the bridge might collapse over them, authorities said, adding that the homes will probably have to be knocked down.
About 1,000 rescue workers using sniffer dogs are trying to extract bodies and potentially survivors from the rubble.
"Work will continue for many hours," Regional President Giovanni Toti said, even if there is "feeble hope" of finding people still alive.
The reinforced concrete structure was seen as innovative when inaugurated in 1967, but according to multiple reports, it was in need of constant repairs.
Motorway operator Autostrade per l'Italia had commissioned for later this year a 20 million euro makeover of its concrete beams, which are suspected to have broken and caused the tragedy.
Italian Infrastructure and Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli blamed Autostrade for the Genoa collapse, and called on its management to resign immediately.
Autostrade has insisted that the Morandi bridge was "monitored... every three months" with "highly-specialised machinery" and following "international best practices."
But two years ago, an engineering professor at Genoa university, Antonio Brencich, called the bridge a "failure of engineering" with "very high maintenance costs."
Australian Associated Press
