brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. in a race against time, rescue workers in genoa, italy say they will spend all night searching the ruins of a collapsed bridge for survivors. dramatic images today where the highway y bridge brokeke up durg severe weather. at least 22 people are dead. we will have the latest on the rescue effort. also coming up, british police investigate an apparent terrorist attack. they are searching three properties in central england,

after a driver rammed passersby before crashing into barriers outside the houses of parliament. and turkish president recep tayyip erdogan opens a new front in his diplomatic spat with united states. he is now threatening to boycott u.s. electronic goods. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it's good to have you with us. as darkness falls in italy, rescue workers in genoa say they are planning to go all night in the hopes of finding people still alive. earlier today, a huge section of a major highway bridge and genoa collapsed during severe weather. cars and trucks and the people inside plummeted down into the void below. at least 22 people have been confirmed dead, but officials

have t told us that number will rise. reporter: this man witnessed what many have described as apocalyptic. in just seconds, a huge section of a motorway bridge crumbled into pieces. a truck managed to stop right on the edge, but many were less fortunate and plunged 45 meters off onto warehouses and railroad tracks below. the incident happened on the eve of a major holiday, with traffic busier than usual. an eyewitness described the tragic moment. >> i heard a noise. i looked out. i saw the cars falling, and we ran away. now the electricity is switched off. we're waiting to be evacuated. reporter: the motorway bridge in the northwestern city of genoa was bubuilt in the 1960's anands undergone a series of repairs.

it collapsed around noon local time. criticics point to strtructural weakaknesses as well as this sudden, violent storm that struck the area at the time. now, authorities say whoever was responsible for the man-made disaster must pay. >> now is the moment for relief, intervention, work, sweat, and prayer. but tonight we will have to find out who is responsible. the names and surnames of those who are guilty of the unacceptable deaths. reporter: but for the moment, all eyes are on the rescue operation. reports say that s se victimss haveve been found d alive in the rubble, raising hopes that there could be further survivors. brent: i'm joined now by journalist seema gupta. she is monitoring the situation from the italian capital, rome. goodod evening to you, seema. i want to ask k you about this rescue effort right now.

are we getting any reports of workers actually finding survivors in the rubble? seema: well, w what we know so r is that as the search and rescue o operations have contitd today,y, they have m managed tol four people out alive. wiwith that in m mind, they arae continuing the efforts t through the night. the death toll at the moment stands at 22, but they expect that figure to rise. that is because there have been reports of some missing people reported, still unaccounted for. some people injureded are in vey serious condition so they could succumb to t their injury. as we saw in that repoport, this is the eve of a major public holiday here in italy for the summer period. people could have been on that bridge heading out to the beach or the mountains. it is a major important bridge and motorway for ththe city of gegenoa, so they we onon there t the time. 440 0 people have alalso been evacuated from the area because there is concern about potential

further collllapse. so as a precaution they have been removed. brent: the bridge, 51 years olo, we understand it was in need of maintenance and structural work. do we have anyny reliable sourcs tonight, people sayiying that ts -- that disrepair could have contributed to the collapse? seema: i think it is interesting to note that there was a thunderstorm that hit the area around the bridge just before it collapsed. in fact, one eyewitntness report talked abobout lightning strikig the bridge before it collapsed at about 11:50 local time. that said,d, however, you righty pointed out t the issue of mainintenance. the brge w was inaugurated back in 1967, but it has s undergone repair work a mbmber of times since the 1970's. and back in 2009 there was a suggestion it should be potentially demolished. so the question of maintenance, whether it was done, done properly, definitely on top of everyone's minds.

the transport infrasucture miniature -- minister said those responsible will be made to pay. the deputy prime minister echoing his thoughts as well. the president spoke today, he said that frankly it was a shocking disgrace what had happened, and it is absurd that perhaps maintenance could potentially be the issue behind th. brent: and what about the timing of this? it is mid-august and we know that in italy, august is when people are on vacation. has that had an impact on the ability ofof emergency serviceso deal with this disaster? i mean are there enough pele around to do the job? seema: well, what we do know is that there are 1000 personnel involved in this operation right now. that is ranging from firefighters, ambulance services as well as the police, all involved in trying to pull out as many people as they can and find as many people as they can, and they will continue through the night. the hospitals are also jam-packed, dealing with those

that have been injured. it is potentially dangerous work, because as i mentioned, there could be further collapse. but that said, they are treating this operation as they would treat an earthquake, really, something italy has had some experience on. that is how they are aiming to tackle it, even though it is in this august period. brent: journalist seema gupta joining us with the latest on the rescue efforts in genoa. seema, thank you. not only in italy are people asking how could this bridge falter to the ground. for more unless -- concrete structures such as this bridge are his special area of expertise. professor, it is good to have you on the program. you saw the dramatic video today of the bridge breaking up. what did you think when you saw ththose pictures? guguest: i think the same as mot

other people, too, what a horrible accidenent this i is. and i think about the possible reasons behind it. brent: what do you thinknk causd the bridge to collapse? guest: it's much too early to say anything about that. but what we can say is it is a typical bridge of the 1960's. a lot of these bridges are made of concrete, and this was the pioneer time of the structural type. so, the knowledge and experience of the structural type at the time was not as high as today. brent: so what does that mean then for bridges like this? the architect that built the bridge that collapsed today, he built several other bridges. so should d they all b be checkd now w to make s sure that their

structural integrity is what it should be? steffen: i don't think it has much to do with a single person, with the engineer was thee designer of the bridge. i think in generalal the bridges from the 1960's are usually in a quite bad conondition, and so, many of these bridges need a lot of maintenance and need a lot of repair. and we as society to staff -- just have to spend more money to do so. that is one big reason. one other reason is we have seen the video, the pictures from the opening time of these bridges, when just one little car was crossing the bridge. today we have a huge increase in heavy trucks on n the bridges. this is from the other side. brent: that is a very good point. there were reports today,

professor, that the bridge was full of cars and trucks bumper to bumper, and there was a thunderstorm at the time. some meteorologists say as much is 15 millimeters of water could have been standing on the bridge surface. so, lots of factors. the viaduct was built 51 years ago. it does need to be maintained, but is it simply too old? i mean, today you would not build a bridge like that. soso is it t time maybe for t tt bridge to be replaced? ststeffen: i think so. we have to r replace some of the bridges, and at least we have to repapair and s strengthehen thee bridges, because they are just dedesigned for o other loa a and ththey are growing older and older. so, it needs effor tt -- effort to maintain the infrastructure.

society needs to understand we need to spend more effort and resources in repairing them. brent: professor, thank you very much. we appreciate your time and your insights. steffen: thank you. brent: tonight, police in the u.k. are treating an early morning rush-hour car crash outside the houses of parliament as an act of terrorism. three people were injured when a man drove his car into the security barriers outside the building. the suspect is reportedly not cooperating with investigators. reporter: this footage was taken moments after the car crashed outside the british parliament. a bbc television camera filmed the car driving toward the building, then into an access lane before hitting the barrier gate. several bikers and pedestrians were wounded.

police arrived quickly on the scene. they surrounded the vehicle, guns drarawn, and arrested the 29-year-old suspect. an eyewitness described seeing the crash. >> basically i saw a man drivivi towards houses of parliaiament t speed. in my opinion it was deliberate. it did not swerve into it. it was a direct hit. us londonersrs are becoming quie experienenced at this s now, unfortunately. reporter: the crash happened near last year's westminster a tackle whehen five people d died after a man drove into a crowd and stabbed a police officer. the security barriers were installed in the wake of that attack. london's mayor praised the response to this latest incident.

>> we have seen across the world major citieses facing acts of terrorism from terrorists s who want to divide our communities, cause e injury and cause death. as a city, we continue to evolve our respononse to terror attack, but also to keep us safe, and to deter these attacks in the fifit place. reporter: police have searched three addresses looking toto pie together the story of the driver. as details continue to emerge, london remains on high alert. brent: here are some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world. malta has given permission for the rescue ship aquarius to enter r port after five eueuropn union countries agreed to accept the 141 refugees on board. the deal ends a four day standoff that kept the ship at sea. the migrants will be distributed to france, germany, spain, portugal, and luxembourg.

in ecuadoror, at least 23 people were killed in a high-speed bus crash h east of the capital. anotheher 19 people were injure. it is the second major bus crash in two days. 12 people died on sunday when a bus carrying soccer fans overturned in the south of the country. investigators in chile have rated headquarters of the roman cap church as part of a probe into sex abuse allegedly committedd by the morris brothes order. prosecutors confirmed t ty are looking into more e than 35 accucusations. officials have also asked the vatican to hand over relevant documents. an australian court has sentenced a catholic archbishop to a year under house arrest for his role in covering up child abuse by a pedophile priest. philip wilson becomes the most senior catholic cleric to be convicted for hiding abuse in the church. reporter: from one of australia's top catholic church

-- clergyman to a common criminal. the sins of his own past forced him from his job. >> will you say sorry to what you have done? reporter: outside court, wilson would not reply to victim's demands for an apology. instead, a supporter heckled them. >> rubbish. >> rubbish like me? excuse me, did you call me rubbish? reporter: that confrontation further outraged of the survivors. somebody in the catholic church -- >> we as the contrition, his grace, as someone set upstairs, has shown no grace. i am beside myself. reporter: wilson has been convicted of crimes dating back to the 1970's. then, he did not report a pedophile colleague to the police when altar boys confided in him. campaigners say the case is not rare. >> pedophiles get to do their

heinous acts because people either conceal or ignore what they do. reporter: today, wilson was sentenced to home detention, despite survivor's agony. his defense argues he is ailing. activists say it is rather because australian law still lets up lightly those who cover up abuse. brent: fanny is back. you have the latest on turkey. fanny: turkish president recep tayyip erdogan has warned his country will boycott u.s. products in response to what he calls economic terrorism done by the united states. he is referring to the trump administration doubling tariffs for turkish steel and aluminum. the turkish lira appears to be pulling back from record lows after the central bank took emergency measures, but rising prices are still hurting the turkish people.

here is more. reporter:: president erdogan claims the u.s. has sabotaged the lira as retribution for ankara's detention of an american pastor on espionage and terrorism charges. washington had already imposed sanctions on turkey, and last week announced plans to double import tariffs on turkish aluminum and steel. since then, the turkish lira has lost a quarter of its value. erdogan says it is part of a plot by the u.s. to devalue currencies globally. meanwhile, russian foreign minister sergey lavrov already predicts consequences for the dollar. >> i am sure that this grave abuse of the u.s. dollar as a global reserve currency will result in the eventual demise of its role. reporter: while many analyststs say that international concerns about erdogan's economic policies are behind the lira's

crash, he called on his c county to boycott u.s.-made goods. >> we will boycott amemerican electronic products. ifif they have the iphone, there is also samsung. reporter: erdogan has also renewed a call for turks to convert their euros and dollars into turkish lira to strengthen the currency. meanwhile, analysts hope for the central bank to take action to restore confidence in the lira. fanny: sophie scimansky is in new york, she has more on the story. nice to see you. is erdogan's boycott likely to have any serious effect on u.s. companies? apple, for example, was one company that he did target. sophie: not really. turkey is simply not important enough to the american economy, especially not to big companies like apple. the apple stock did not react at all.

in fact it was green the entire trading session, so investors were not worried about this threat. in the end, american companies, american economy, and the american resident have more leverage, so it's an unequal fight, if you want. trump can cause way more damage in turkey than the other way around. we saw last week when he brought up tariffs on steel and aluminum, steel -- turkey is not in a strong position right now. it is a little more than saber rattling and the broader markets. there was even a rally on tuesday was stoxx crank -- gaining a strong earnings. fanny: can things get any worse in this dispute? sophie: yes, i would say so. the reason for this is donald trump. erdogan is not facing someone here who is trying to calalm markets by taking a cautious

stance. instead, the white house is already harming the already begin to country even more by threatening more and more sanctions, tariffs. so, the fall of the lira and the turkish economy are just collateral damage. trump wants to see the pastor free. until he does get what he wants, he is going to put pressure on turkey. fanny: sophie scimansky in new york, thank you very much. in other stories, president nicolas maduro announced from now on, venezuela's chief fuel will be available only to people in a special government card. for years the government of the economically ravaged country has heavily subsidized petrol. this has led to a flash market in neighboring countries like colombia and the caribbean. until now, any driver could fill the tank of a small suv 9000 times for the price of a cup of

coffee. no kidding. venezuela'a's positions as the government's new fuel card is a tool for controlling people. the austrian capital vienna has been ranked as the world's most livable city. it is the first time a european city has led the annual survey by the magazine economist. the yes secured an almost perfect score of 99 points out of 100. each year, 140 cities are ranked by living centers, crime, stability. australia jobs to second place after being voted the most livable city for seven years in a row. is a yellow your favorite city? brent: -- is vienna your favorite city? brent: i don't know if i want to live there. berlin is a great city.

the russian government has withdrawn funding from one of the country's most prominent human rights organizations. a group called for human rights is led by an activist who is now fighting to keep it afloat. among those most worried about the group's survival of the people it helps. these include teenagers arrested for criticizing the government, and their distraught relatives. reporter: this demonstrator fears the worst, cononcerned moe youth will be accused of what the government calls extremist activities. protesters in moscow field powerless in the face of it all. a growing number of russians are under legal pressure because of the legislation against so-called extremism. authorities are applying the law with a broad interpretation. sometimes merely expressing opposition to the kremlin online, or meeting like-minded people, is enough to land in trouble. the state has wanted the demonstrators in its site -- has

one of the demonstrators in its sights. >> there are lots of security staff, police, and secret service personnel. they are just trying to keep his he. -- budy. -- busy. reporter: a distraught couple seeks advice about their children whoho have beenen found guilty of being so-called extremist. they are accused of certain -- pursuing subversive activities. for many, he is their last hope. he give this up a few years ago and now relies solely on funding from russia's federal budget. this is to avoid being labeled a foreign agent in his own country, but he may soon lose the support, too. >> if they do not give us any money, we will have to rely on funding from abroad and we will be labeled a foreieign agent.. that will make our work extremely difficult. wewe have two-state on our

letterhead and website that we are foreign agents. and then the officials will l nt have anything to do with us. reporter: the consequences can be higher. five months ago -- can be dire. five months ago a 19-year-old was arrested. her mother is not having it. she has no faith in russia's legal system. she is among those who fear what could happen if human rights activists like lev do not draw attention to cases like this. >> then everything will be worse and it will not be reported. >> trials like these will take place behind closed doors and no one will try to help. >> i think public pressure is the only thing that will help. reporter: there has been considerable interest in his trial. it is standing room only in the courtroom, and others cannot get in. lev and his colleague has

mobilized as many people as they could. >> we have to bring people together and put pressure on the court. within the legal framework, of course. that is our specialty. reporter: the court has been adjourned. the trial will continue at a later date. she is hoping the human rights activists can make a difference in her case. brent: as europe basks in a heat wave, the best way to cool down is to take a dip in the sea. a swimmer from england has taken to a whole new level. his goal is to become the first person to swim around the entire british coast. reporter: edgley set off on his epic journey on the first of june.

he swims six hours, ththen rests six hours on his support boat. swimmiming at night t is the tougughest. >> the night swims a are horrib, i am not going to sugarcoat it. that period where i put on that cold wetsuit and i have to walk all the way down, then sort of dip my toe into the water. taht is the longest three meter walk i have ever had in my life. reporter: edgley has faced many obstacles. he has been battered by the wind in the ways. but jellyfish posed biggest danger.. >> pain is the best case scenario. worst-case scenario is itching as the toxins go around your body, they attack your nervous system. if it goes into your mouth your airway can start to close up, making breatathing difficult. also as well, just kind of mumuscles going into spasm. reporter: hehe has alreadydy see new world recordrd, but he stitl has a longng way to go edgley is only just over halfway into his 3200 kilometers swim

arouound britain. brent: he must like cold water. here's a recap of our cap story. italian officiaials s s at least 22 people hahave died after a motorway bridged in the northern a tie and city of genoa. firefighghters are s said to seh through the night for survivors, although they expect the death toll to rise. you're watching "dw news." after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day. we are going to have extensive coverage of that bridge collapse in italy. stay tuned. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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