Connect with us

News

Morandi Bridge Collapses Two Years After Professor Predicts a Similar Disaster

Published

on

Morandi Bridge Disaster

Emergency services are rushing to clear the scene of a massive highway bridge collapse in northern Italy. The raised Morandi Bridge highway – which connects Italy and France – was once hailed as an engineering masterpiece. With heavy rains and poor structure support to blame, how could a engineering masterpiece have failed? An Italian engineering professor looks to have predicted this catastrophic disaster two years ago.

Unlike something out of the Final Destination franchise, the Morandi Bridge disaster actually took place. At around 12 p.m. August 4, Italian state police reported that a 650-foot section of the Morandi Bridge had collapsed, sending rubble and at least 35 cars crashing down 45 meters. The bridge stretches over half a mile and dangles 300 feet over the northern town of Genoa, Italy.

Morandi Bridge Highway Collapse

via Telegraph India

Designed by Riccardo Morandi and completed in 1968, the bridge was an engineering masterpiece of its time. However, the popular highway has had its share of problems. During the 1980s-1990s, the Morandi Bridge underwent extensive maintenance.

According to News, maintenance was being conducted on the bridge when the incident occurred. Eyewitnesses captured the moment on camera, saying that heavy rainstorms and a lightning strike were also to blame. This all occurring on the eve of major Italian holiday, Ferragosto.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told CNN at least 22 people are dead and 16 are injured. Nine are badly injured. Separately, the office of the governor of the Liguria region said 26 people have died.

The “masterpiece of engineering” was a structure Antonio Brencich eventually knew was going to fail. An engineering professor at the University of Genoa, Brencich spoke on the issue back in July of 2016. He warned about the constantly maintained and uneven structure outweighing the cost.

“The Morandi Bridge is referred to as a masterpiece of engineering. In reality it is a bankruptcy,” he said in an interview with Italian TV channel primocanale.it according to The Chronicle. “That bridge is wrong. Sooner or later it will have to be replaced. I do not know when……There will be a time when maintenance costs will exceed those of reconstruction, and then we will have to proceed with the replacement.”

While the exact cause of the collapse is still under investigation, Prime Minster Conte has praised the hundreds of rescue workers. “It is shocking to see the twisted metal and the bridge collapsed with victims who were extracted,” said Prime Minster Conte to NewsTalkZB. “(It’s a) very bad time with the collapsing of the bridge which was not absolutely unexpected. But we don’t know the reason.

While newspapers have scrutinized the bridge in the past for underfunding, Prime Minster Conte promises change.

“My role as the mayor is to make sure we have the correct infrastructure for the city and make sure that from the government we get the right amount of money in order to be able to set up the new infrastructure as soon as possible.”

Expected to rise is the death toll as a number of people are still missing. Four people have been pulled from the wreckage and transported to hospitals.  Genoa officials have declared two days of mourning.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

Published

on

In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

News

Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

Published

on

Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading