A British couple have told of the terrifying moment they jumped from their car with their two young children and ran for their lives as a bridge in Genoa,Italy, crumbled.
Thirty-nine people are so far confirmed dead as rescuers wade through the rubble to find survivors.
Those on the Morandi bridge who managed to reach safety have recounted the horrifying moment they ran for survival.
British couple Nicola and Lisa Henton-Mitchell, from Bicester, Oxfordshire, were four days into a three-week holiday when they stopped at a rest area in Italy with their two children.
Little did they know it, the family’s brief delay may have saved their lives.
‘We had stopped at a service station to use the toilet,’ Lisa said. ‘Thank God, or it could have been worse.’
The family and their children were running for their lives from the viaduct collapse in Genoa before finding safety in a tunnel
Italians helped the family to translate inside the tunnel as they tried to figure out what to do next
‘I was driving. The rain was so severe you could only see a few cars in front of you.
‘Something didn’t feel right. We felt we were sliding to the right.’
Nicola added: ‘The car moved sideways and we shuddered.
‘We thought it was the wind but now we wonder if it was the road twisting.’
It was only when they spotted brake lights in front of them they realised there was a problem.
‘Everyone’s red lights came on,’ Lisa said.
‘Then it seemed like seconds later the reverse lights came on.
The 50-year-old bridge crumbled as cars and trucks made their way to the other side – killing at least 39 people
Dozens of people sought safety in the same tunnel after abandoning their vehicles on the bridge and running to safety
Soaking wet and scared families were taken down from the bridge on buses. A family from Oxfordshire which survived said they are glad to be safe
At least 39 people have died, 12 are in critical condition and several more are missing following the bridge collapse at 11.30am on Tuesday
A survivor with a head would is winched out of the debris on a stretcher by a fire crew after being found among the rubble
‘The car in front reversed and crashed into us. Nobody could really move.’
The couple’s daughter had no shoes on and it was not possible to pick her up, the couple recalled, as a tidal wave of people headed to their spot.
Their son grabbed a bag which had their passports and phone in.
The family headed for a tunnel through the driving rain with car doors swinging open in their path.
Lisa said: ‘When we got to the tunnel, everybody was crying, distraught.’
Strangers helped them with dry clothes from their own cases so the children could dry off.
Their car remains on the bridge as only those 250 metres from the crash site have been moved.
The family’s insurance firm has refused to fly them home and they remain in Italy.
Nicola and Lisa Henton-Mitchell, from Bicester, Oxfordshire, were four days into a three-week holiday with their two children when they were forced to abandon their hire car and run for their lives
Police guarded the tunnel before transport was brought in to bring the families to safety
However, the pair have heaped praise on the people who have helped them from strangers who acted as translators to restaurant staff who gave their children free ice cream.
Lisa wrote on Facebook: Thank you everyone for you kind thoughts and comments yesterday, what a day, still can’t believe it. We are waiting news on our car so not sure how long we be in Genoa, they are still trying to rescue people from the rubble which is more important.
‘Lots of organising and calls to make first thing insurance car hire etc. We are all doing well though…..thank you everyone especially Mutual a lovely lady and hubby helped translate, gave us her power cable to use and Belgium lady in the tunnel giving the kids her clothes from her suitcase so they could have a dry top half. There were also a couple of men who translated for us…they were all truly lovely, kind people.’