Genoa, Italy - Aug 15, 2018 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of collapsed bridge, firefighters searching for people, clearing rubble
2. Various of collapsed, still-standing bridge
3. Large pieces of bridge debris
4. Heavy machines in operation, rescuers
5. Various of bundle of flower, candle
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Emmanuel Gissi, regional fire chief (starting with shots 4-5, partially overlaid with shots 7-8):
"We will end the operations whenever we are sure that nobody's under the rubbles anymore. We have rough estimates of the vehicles that were passing over the bridge during the accident, so we are basing our design of intervention on those estimates. Those estimates cannot be absolutely precise, so we will continue to work until we have searched all of the rubble."
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
7. Rescuers walking
8. Excavators in operation
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
9. Rescuers walking, Gissi talking to reporter
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Emmanuel Gissi, regional fire chief:
"We have no signs of life currently."
11. Various of rescuers
12. Helicopter
13. Rescuers, residents
14. Aerial shot of collapsed bridge
15. SOUNDBITE (Italian, dubbed with English) Francesco Bucchieri, local resident (starting with shot 14, ending with shots 16-17):
"Genoa and all of Italy is incredulous. Today more than ever, the government must shed light on this tragedy, and make sure that these deaths are not forgotten and whoever is responsible pays, they can't always put their head in the sand."
16. Helicopter
17. Helicopter flying over collapsed bridge
18. Collapsed bridge
19. Various of heavy machines in operation, rescuers working
20. Various of rubble, large debris, collapsed bridge

The death toll in the Genoa bridge collapse has risen to 39, according to Italian authorities on Wednesday.

The collapse of the Morandi Bridge has astonished the world. Rescue teams continued to search for survivors amid tons of concrete debris and twisted steel, with more bodies being recovered.

"We will end the operations whenever we are sure that nobody's under the rubbles anymore. We have rough estimates of the vehicles that were passing over the bridge during the accident, so we are basing our design of intervention on those estimates," said Emmanuel Gissi, regional fire chief.

Gissi says previous cries for help heard from under the rubble have stopped.

"We have no signs of life currently," said Gissi.

While more than 400 firefighters from across the country along with a thousand other search and rescue personnel refuse to give up, Italians are demanding answers.

How could one of Europe's major thoroughfares, linking Italy's Rivera with Southern France, simply collapse?

"Genoa and all of Italy is incredulous. Today more than ever, the government must shed light on this tragedy, and make sure that these deaths are not forgotten and whoever is responsible pays, they can't always put their head in the sand," said Francesco Bucchieri, local resident.

Italy spent 16 billion dollars on its infrastructure in 2006, in line with Germany. However, that figure dropped dramatically following the global economic crisis. While expenditures have increased since then, Italy's transport minister says this disaster sheds light on the dilapidation of Italy's transport sector.

For years, the Morandi Bridge has been managed by the private company Autostrade per l'Italia.

Now, one of Italy's deputy prime ministers and its transport minister are asking for their resignations.

Danilo Toninelli, Italian transport minister said in a modern and civilized country like Italy, people can not afford to see tragic events like this.

It is not acceptable and those who made a mistake will have to pay until the end, he stressed.

The bridge, opened in 1967, had undergone recent repairs. Yet for years, experts had voiced concerns of a tragedy waiting to happen.

Now, fingers are also pointing at the governing Five Star Movement for describing those warnings as "fairy tales".

A criminal investigation has been launched. Italy's Prime Minster Giuseppe Conte has declared a state of emergency in Genoa following the worst bridge collapse in Europe since 2001.