Libyan bridge 'was closed for safety reasons'

The designer of a bridge that collapsed on Tuesday in the Italian city of Genoa had also designed one in Libya, which was reportedly closed last year because of worries over its safety.

It is not yet clear what caused the collapse of the motorway bridge, which was designed by Riccardo Morandi, completed in 1967 and restructured in 2016.

His Wadi al-Kufi bridge straddles a valley about 20km (12 miles) from Libya’s eastern city of Bayda.

The Libyan Observer describes it as Africa’s second-highest bridge built between 1965 and 1972.

Morandi, an Italian civil engineer who died in 1989, used reinforced concrete in many of his projects.