Genoa bridge collapse: Footballer tells his rare and remarkable tale of surviving the disaster
One of the rare survivors of a deadly bridge collapse in Italy has described "apocalyptic scenes" after the structure came crashing down.
The tragedy in Genoa four years ago left 43 people dead and sparked a year-long national emergency
Davide Capello, 37, plummeted 40 metres in his white Volkswagen Tiguan, which was cushioned by tonnes of debris below,
Remarkably, he emerged from the tragedy almost unscathed, apart from back and shoulder pain "which returns from time to time".
"It was as if a bomb had fallen on the bridge ... an apocalyptic scene," he told AFP, recalling the moment a 210-metre section of the Morandi bridge gave way on 14 August amid heavy rainfall.
On the morning of the disaster, Davide, who was a firefighter in Savona for several years and ex-professional football player, was on his way to Genoa to renew his membership card at the Genoa football club where he trains young goalkeepers
"I went through the tunnel before the Morandi bridge. Then, halfway through the bridge, I heard a thud behind me and saw the road crumble, all the cars in front of me plunged into the void," he said.
"At a certain moment I felt propelled in the air and I fell with the whole bridge, with the nose of my car pointing downwards, at the time I really thought I was going to die."
What happened next he called a "miracle", believing there was "no other explanation" for it.
"A cloud of dust surrounded me when I landed inside a part of the bridge which covered me without flattening me."
This chunk of the bridge "accompanied" Davide as debris cascaded towards the ground, which he linked to a protective air bubble.
His car landed in a pile of rubble in the yard of a factory just below the bridge. All of its windows were shattered, but the
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